Students Reach Out to Stricken Family : Calabasas: They raise $7,500 to aid a 15-year-old girl diagnosed with bone cancer and her terminally ill mother. A benefit is planned Monday.

Word spread quickly around Calabasas High School when Sara Boettcher didn’t return from Christmas break.

During the holiday vacation, Sara had been diagnosed with bone cancer. Students were already aware that the 15-year-old sophomore’s mother is battling terminal kidney cancer.

In the three weeks since classes resumed, students have raised $7,500 for their schoolmate and her mother, Paula, and a 20-year-old sister, Amy. The Boettcher family, which lives in a rented condominium near campus, has depleted its savings and is struggling to pay the bills.

Many of the donations have come from the students themselves and from their families and teachers. Student groups have turned over the money they had been saving for dances and parties.

“When Sara was first diagnosed, she was even afraid to tell people because she thought the kids would tease her,” Paula Boettcher said from her room at the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte. “I can’t believe so many people have responded. A lot of the kids have come over to the house to see her. They’ve brought her stuffed animals and baskets of candy.”

Sara, who was also at the City of Hope for treatment this week, was unavailable for comment.

Monday night, Calabasas High will hold a benefit screening of a new movie, “Only You,” at an Agoura Hills theater. A trust fund has been set up and the student government will continue to make monthly collections in homeroom classes.

“The person who’s in need is a student, so we can all identify,” said Matt Shapiro, 17, a student body officer. “This is something that hits close to home.”

Students are planning bake sales, a jog-a-thon and other events to raise money, said Steve Spadaro, a social studies teacher and Sara’s junior varsity softball coach. Spadaro said Sara will not be able to return to school this year because she is scheduled to undergo extensive chemotherapy.

“It’s devastating,” said Gary Walker, a Calabasas High assistant principal. “But everybody has opened their pockets. I’m very proud of our students.”

The Boettchers moved to Calabasas from Oxnard at the start of Sara’s freshman year. Paula Boettcher said her daughter, a relatively new student in school, had only a few close friends.

“Our school seems to be united when it comes to bad things happening,” said Julie Marshall, another student officer. “Even though a lot of people didn’t know Sara, they feel bad for her and they want to help.”