Cancer Awareness Week

The Martinsville High School student body had their annual Cancer Awareness Week in October. Teacher Kristi Casey has been putting together this week for the past two years. Her class is used to encourage students to go out and change the world, treat others with kindness, and to all around be a great person. So, she started out the year determined to make this week make a difference.  

The preparation and planning of the week started at the beginning of October with the spirit week being the week of Halloween. The days were: Dreaming of a Cancer Free World, Pajama Day (10/29), Let’s Make Some Magic, Disney Day (10/30) Scare Away Cancer, Halloween Costumes (10/31), Shade out Cancer, Wear Pink/Hat and Sunglasses Day (11/01), and finally No One Fights Alone, Red/Blue day (11/02).   

Starting in 2017, Casey decided to start cancer awareness week during the week of Halloween. Her first year mainly focused on childhood cancer awareness and was spread to all cancers this current school year. This awareness week would include many different activities for teachers and students to show support to and for those battling cancer.

Casey’s class has been doing cupcake wars all three years of her teaching, but this year they incorporated it into a school-wide event. Her students made cupcakes based on the Halloween theme. These cupcakes were displayed in the cafeteria on Thursday and allowed students to vote on their top three favorites for the winners. Two votes costed a dollar, and students were given a piece of candy for every dollar they donated to the cause.  

The art students also collaborated in on this project by painting canvases with inspirational quotes for an auction in the teachers’ lounge. All funds from this auction and cupcake votes went to the Gunner Burnham Foundation, a foundation that Casey dedicated this week to.  

Students worked on activities related to cancer awareness leading up to the big week in October. “I really enjoyed having time to work on projects and anything else we needed,” said sophomore Ethan Iliff. Overall, Casey’s classes raised $1,150.00 during first trimester alone. She hopes to carry on this week for the years to come of her teaching career.