Good News in Schools

Think Pink Thursdays

Every three minutes, someone is diagnosed with breast cancer.  We read about it, talk about it, walk about it, study about it, donate money for the cause and at Hawthorne, we also dressed for it.  With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Hawthorne Family took a pledge to be aware while adding a little more Pink to the school day.  Every Thursday in October, family members wore Pink!  Not only did the females wear pink, male family members also joined in the cause.   “Someone who is very close to me was stricken with cancer,” said Mr. Edmund Webb, 5th grade teacher.  “It’s a very worthwhile cause and I want to show my support.”

Fifth grade teacher, Dr. Nicole Reese, came up with the idea after having several discussions with close friends in other school districts.  They decided to ask their schools to show solidarity and pledge to be more aware by wearing Pink.  “This is a very dear project to me because of the number of people in both my family and my extended family who have had to endure this dreadful disease,” shared Dr. Reese.  She also indicated that there may be others in Clayton County who also wore Pink, but she was not aware of them at this point.  She does know that this is a disease which has impacted many lives at some point in time and therefore encouraged everyone to wear anything Pink on Thursdays and share stories.

Dr. Reese wanted others to know about a wonderful website, www.thebreastcancersite.com.  If you click on this site, you’ll see a toolbar where you can click once each day and help fund free mammograms.  You don’t have to join anything.  “All you do is log on and click and the sponsors from the site donate money to fund free mammograms to those who are underprivileged or who otherwise cannot afford to get mammograms,” exclaimed Dr. Reese.  During the month of October, the clicks were worth double!!!!!  To date, Dr. Reese has helped to fund more than 1,000 mammograms. 

In addition to wearing Pink, staff members purchased pink silicone breast cancer bracelets which have the words Hope, Faith, Courage and Strength on them.  Awareness ribbons sit between each word.  The company who makes the bracelets has partnered with the National Breast Cancer Coalition and will donate half of the proceeds directly to the NBCC.   Bracelets are worn at any time.

Pink is a bright color, but not too loud or too bold that it is distracting.  It is subtle enough to make a quiet statement about a very sensitive subject.  Each time we saw Pink, we were reminded that even though many lives are lost each year to this disease, we still do not have to give up.  True strength comes in numbers.  All Hawthorne Family members were encouraged to Think/Wear Pink on Thursdays throughout the month of October!