Our Opinion: A Noble Effort |
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Published by the Tallahassee Democrat on October 8th, 2011
Leon High School Principal Rocky Hanna sums up what this community would do well to embrace in the character of our high-school students.
In response to occasional comments that "kids are not the same today," he says, that's right: Kids today are better.
This week, students at Leon High School demonstrated what a difference young people are making in our community when it was announced that they had raised $22,000 to donate to the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation. The money will go toward building and furnishing a private chemotherapy treatment room at the new TMH Cancer Center.
This year's drive was inspired by the challenges of one of their own, freshman Jacob Grimes, who has traveled to Orlando to get treatment for brain and spinal cord tumors.
The work of Leon High students is even more incredible in that this year's contribution brings the school's total donations to TMH and the American Cancer Society to $100,000. Students donated their own money, which made up the bulk of the $22,000, but they held fundraisers, too.
"When you look up the school, it's been there for 75 years," said Hanna, a third-generation graduate. "It's bricks and mortar. What makes it special are the 2,000 students. Some of the ones who have the least were giving the most. They said, 'I can do without lunch for one day.' "
Seeing classmates and teachers struck by cancer teaches that the disease has no boundaries. It also helps give students an insight early in life that helping to find solutions to problems in our community sets a foundation for reaching out to help others later in life.
As a result of the school's contributions, a wing on the seventh floor at Tallahassee Memorial is being named in its honor. A room on the first floor of the new Cancer Center is also dedicated to the school, and now the chemotherapy treatment room will be named in its honor.
These contributions will be recognized long after these students graduate. But in the meantime, they can feel proud that they're helping to ease the worries and struggles of others today.
In response to occasional comments that "kids are not the same today," he says, that's right: Kids today are better.
This week, students at Leon High School demonstrated what a difference young people are making in our community when it was announced that they had raised $22,000 to donate to the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation. The money will go toward building and furnishing a private chemotherapy treatment room at the new TMH Cancer Center.
This year's drive was inspired by the challenges of one of their own, freshman Jacob Grimes, who has traveled to Orlando to get treatment for brain and spinal cord tumors.
The work of Leon High students is even more incredible in that this year's contribution brings the school's total donations to TMH and the American Cancer Society to $100,000. Students donated their own money, which made up the bulk of the $22,000, but they held fundraisers, too.
"When you look up the school, it's been there for 75 years," said Hanna, a third-generation graduate. "It's bricks and mortar. What makes it special are the 2,000 students. Some of the ones who have the least were giving the most. They said, 'I can do without lunch for one day.' "
Seeing classmates and teachers struck by cancer teaches that the disease has no boundaries. It also helps give students an insight early in life that helping to find solutions to problems in our community sets a foundation for reaching out to help others later in life.
As a result of the school's contributions, a wing on the seventh floor at Tallahassee Memorial is being named in its honor. A room on the first floor of the new Cancer Center is also dedicated to the school, and now the chemotherapy treatment room will be named in its honor.
These contributions will be recognized long after these students graduate. But in the meantime, they can feel proud that they're helping to ease the worries and struggles of others today.
