GENEVA – In an effort to get student-athletes to “hear the cheers,” Geneva sixth-grader Eliza Peters is leading a fundraising effort to buy costly hearing aids for students with hearing impairments.

Eliza partnered with espnW and ESPN Radio’s Sarah Spain to raise money for hearing aids and related audiology services for people in the Chicago area, with 10 percent of the donated funds staying in Kane County.

Eliza, 12, is considered legally deaf. Her family found out that she was hearing impaired when she was 5. After two unsuccessful surgeries, she was fitted with bilateral hearing aids. Her mother, Amber Peters, said even the least expensive hearing aids start at $2,500 an ear.