Teacher Has 13 Inches Cut from Her Hair!! Money’s Still Coming In!!
Michelle Perk is a teacher on a mission. The mission is to teach her sixth graders at Southeast Middle School about giving to others and to help raise money for awareness of and a possible cure for breast cancer. That mission has been accomplished.
During a special event October 15, students raised thousands of dollars for the project online and in the school’s auditorium during a special event – and Perk got her hair raised, as well. As of November 2, in-school and online donations totaled $10,468.15.
Perk recently shared with students the story about her mother, Mollee Vicknair, being a two-time survivor of breast cancer who now has lymphoma. Students at first made get well cards for patients, but then – of their own volition – they wanted to do more. Now they are in the middle of a fundraiser with a goal of collecting $10,000 to go towards a cure for breast cancer through a blog, online donations, in-school events, media coverage and much, much more.
The school literally has been doused in pink, lately, with October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Woman’s Hospital also has donated 100 pink bracelets and 100 pink Chapsticks with awareness messages and logos, and VooDoo BBQ has made a monetary donation. In addition, Ochsner Health System donated 20 Saints football tickets to a recent game to support students who are good citizens. One student who is attending the Sunday, October 24, game is Ryan Wilcox, an eighth grader who donated $50 after agreeing with his parents to work off that amount in chores around the house. The American Cancer Foundation donated 1,000 pink bracelets for students and breast cancer awareness pins for teachers.
On that Friday morning at the school, the Cougar students held a special event for the “One School. One Cause. One Cure.” Campaign. At 7:15 a.m., a sea of students and staff wearing pink (each donated $1 toward the cause to wear pink that day) filled the school gym. Then a drawing was held. Student DeJah Joseph (first photo, left with Perk in the “before” picture) was selected to cut 13 inches off Perk’s hair – which has been growing for over a year – to be donated to a non-profit organization that uses donated hair to make wigs for those who lose their own hair due to cancer treatments. Perk’s mother and 3-year-old daughter, Annabella Perk (second photo, in Perk’s lap in the “after” picture) also attended the event. In addition, the faculty wore a special shirt designed by Perk.
As a side note, Perk’s grandfather, Dr. Robert L. diBenedetto, was one of the founders of Woman's Hospital. For more about Vicknair’s struggle, see the article in the October 1 issue of The Advocate:
http://www.print2webcorp.com/news/BatonRouge/PinkMatters/20101001/p09.asp.
The school’s fund-raising blog is at http://1school1cause1goal.blogspot.com/. Donations can be made via PayPal at www.info-komen.org/goto/1school1cause1goal
or http://www.info-komen.org/site/TR?pg=fund&fr_id=1120&pxfid=148783 or call the school at (225) 753-5930.
“(About) 80 percent of our school is considered low income, and I would love for people to see that these kids still want to matter,” Perk said. “They want to prove that no matter where they come from or the struggles they deal with that they can change the world. Our kids make a difference every day and they are trying to start by helping the women in our community.”
“My grandmother has fought breast cancer since I was 8 years old,” said Southeast Middle School Principal Amber Boyd, “and I am sure most of us have faced this with someone we love. I can't think of a better way to show our students that they can make a difference, and they have a lot more influence than they think.”
