“Think pink! A better way of life.” Pink posters plastered the walls and pink ribbons and clothing filled the halls, as many students and staff members committed to raising funds and awareness for one cause.
On the second annual “Think Pink Day”, Schreiber participated in Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Relay for Life coaches and sport teams together raised over $800 on Oct. 12.
“Think Pink Day is a way to raise breast cancer awareness as well as the school spirit by getting students to participate and learn about an important issue in a fun way,” said Relay for Life coach senior Taylor Eisenberg.
Throughout the day, Relay coaches organized a number of activities in the lobby under the guidance of club adviser and health teacher Ms. Patricia Kosiba and Megan Stewart, Port Washington’s staff partner from the American Cancer Society.
Relay for Life coaches from each grade level reminded female students and teachers to do regular breast self-exams, by offering free watermelons to “check their melons” and painting pinkie nails pink as a “pinkie promise” to do the exams. The Relay for Life coaches also sold pink lemonade, pink ribbon tattoos, and pink ribbons, for a dollar each.
“Think Pink Day is a great way to help raise awareness for breast cancer and to educate students about the disease,” said freshman Roy Pinango, who participated in Think Pink Day.
Among these students were some with personal connections to the cause.
“This day is special to me because I lost my grandma to breast cancer,” said sophomore Jamie Levine, who had participated in Think Pink Day. “Dressing in pink makes me feel better and I think that it also helps others who either have breast cancer or know someone struggling with the disease.”
“We try to change it a bit every year,” said Ms. Kosiba. “This year, a large part of Think Pink Day was the lollipops. We gathered as many pink colored lollipops as we could and started selling them from that Thursday. They sold out early Friday morning. The club has an amazing group of kids dedicated to the cause. It was also great to see sport teams supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month.”
Think Pink Day is also characterized by the active participation of the school’s athletic department. This year, all fall teams designated a game to Breast Cancer Awareness.
Sports teams ordered pink clothes, which they wore on Think Pink Day. Coaches also took part in Breast Awareness Month by wearing pink shirts. Individual teams adopted catch phrases relating to Breast Cancer Awareness. The girl’s volleyball created the slogan “Dig Pink,” field hockey used “Drive Out Cancer,” and football “tackled cancer.”
The teams will continue to take part in cancer awareness throughout the month of October and the rest of the school year. The boys and girls basketball teams are planning to hold a special event on behalf of the American Cancer Society. In spring, the boys baseball and girls softball teams will hold a “Strike Out Cancer” day, while the track teams plan to promote “On Track for a Cure” in April.
“It is wonderful the role athletics play in the efforts to raise awareness,” said Athletic Director Ms. Stephanie Joannon. “I am proud of all our teams for the great strides they took to ‘think pink’ everyday in October. Our teams were awesome.”