by: Ava Hardaway
In the month of October, people wear pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness month. At GS, sports teams like football, volleyball and hockey wear pink and host a Pink Out game each year.
Students at GS join in with the fight against Breast Cancer Awareness in many ways. Teams and students show their support through games, fundraisers and campaigns.
Junior Cooper Dann started Cooper’s Campaign in 4th grade. At a young age, Dann wanted to raise awareness for breast cancer; specifically, he wanted to dye his hair pink in the month of October.
Cooper Dann shows off his new hair for the month of October.
Photo courtesy of: Cooper Dann
“We called the school to ask, and they denied me because it would be a distraction,” he said. “I was upset and still wanted to do it, so I needed a good reason to dye it to defy the Principal. I started with just wanting to raise awareness, but that wasn’t good enough.”
Ever since 4th grade, Dann has felt the need to continue this tradition of his own each year. He dyes his hair pink every October to raise money for affected families.
“It’s hard to really do things in school with all the busy schedules,” he said. “Being able to bring awareness to the school would be something I’d be open to. I would help the school because many aren’t well educated on why my hair was pink every year. I mean, even Mr. Zilli asked me why my hair was pink.”
When passing Dann in the halls, students get to see his pink hair, but he wishes that the entire school had a better understanding of his cause and why he does what he does.
“My favorite thing about my campaign is the smiles,” he said. “Not only putting a smile on their faces, but I stay in touch with most of the families that I help. It really is a powerful thing seeing some of the people I’ve helped be able to overcome these events and know that, although I wasn’t a big part, they still thank me for everything I’ve done. Seeing that smile on the kids’ face after a gift is one of the best feelings I can ever have.”
Dann plays football during the month of October and makes the effort to wear pink, along with his teammates. On Friday, October 27th, the GS Football team will have their annual Pink-Out game in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Other sports at GS have hosted a Pink Out game near the end of the fall sports season. Volleyball hosted their annual Dig Pink game on October 10th. This game is always a special game for players, coaches and fans. In preparation for the game, the team sold Pink-Out shirts and bracelets. During pregame, each member of the team named someone they play for in the fight against breast cancer. Although the team was unable to pull out a win, the team was able to donate all the money raised from the Dig-Pink game to Westmoreland Walks, Inc.
The GS Hockey team wanted to join in on the Pink-Out theme night as well. Starting this year, the team is also hosting a Pink-Out night, selling shirts for the night of the game.
The shirts that the Hockey and Volleyball teams sold for their Pink-Out games.
Photo by: Ava Hardaway
Senior Carter Cherok, assistant captain of the Hockey team, has started to get prepared for the first Pink-Out game.
“Parents and players thought that it would be a good game for a good cause,” Cherok said. “My mom and other members on the board for the Hockey team decided that this was a good way to raise money and awareness for cancer in the month of October.”
As preparations begin for the upcoming Pink-Out night, many people involved are getting excited for the game, especially the team.
“I am looking forward to this game,” he said. “I am anticipating beating Indiana and I hope it is a good turnout and we raise lots of funds for cancer research.”
The GS Hockey team is set to face Indiana for the Pink-Out game, which will be played on Thursday, October 26th.
Breast Cancer affects many women every day. All ages of women can be afflicted with this disease including GS math teacher Mrs. Beth Horchak, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her family members, colleagues and students were in full support in her fight.
After the COVID-19 shut down, Mrs. Horchak continued her teaching online. She joined her classes through an online meeting. She continued this form of teaching until she felt her health was strong enough to go in to teach.
“I actually taught while I was going through my chemo treatments,” Horchak said. “I scheduled them for Thursdays; this gave me Saturday and Sunday to recover from the treatment. I started my chemo in November and my last treatment was in April. I feel I missed getting to know my students that year. The district was very understanding and accommodated me to be at home while Mrs. Zahorchak was in the actual classroom.”
During the times of fighting a disease, sickness or anything else that can cause stress in a person’s life, finding a reliever can help ease the stress. Horchak used teaching students as a way to cope with her stress.
“Teaching was what helped me through the entire process,” she said. “I needed normalcy because nothing in my life was at that time. School was the only normal part left at that time. It helped me not to dwell on all the negative things going on, it helped me keep my mind busy and think of something else.”
Students, teachers and other district workers were in full support of Mrs. Horchak at this time.
“The love and support that I received was more than I could have imagined,” she said. “I wanted to be open and honest with my students, being that I was going to be working through my chemo treatments. I remember the day that my hair started to fall out, the next day I came in with a cap and had to face my students. It was heartwarming and overwhelming how they all responded, some even offered to shave their own heads.”
Clubs and sports teams at GS raise money and awareness for the fight against the disease. The school will continue these events in the coming years and months of October.
“I totally appreciate what the school does for breast cancer awareness,” Horchak said. “It is obviously a cause near and dear to my heart. I just bought my pink ribbon from FCCLA. I was not able to make the pink out game for Volleyball, but it is always impressive what they do to help support breast cancer. The jeans day for the staff, I love seeing the pink that everyone wears that day. People may not realize, but it really means a lot, more than they will ever know.”
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