This year in the Orono Schools, cancer has affected the lives of students, staff, and the community. Orono students have banned together to help Nick Manzoni, OHS senior with Ewing’s sarcoma, and Owen Pilot, an eight-year-old with Leukemia.
Pilot has been battling Leukemia since he was three years old. His older sister Avery, an eighth grade student at Orono Middle School, planned a drive in the middle school to collect as many ChapSticks as possible for Leukemia patients.
The term Leukemia refers to cancers of the white blood cells. When a child has Leukemia, large numbers of abnormal white blood cells are produced in the bone marrow. These abnormal white cells crowd the bone marrow and flood the bloodstream, but they cannot perform their proper role of protecting the body against disease because they are defective.
ChapSticks are used for treating dry lips, which is a major side effect from chemotherapy, and are also rubbed along the inside of masks while chemotherapy treatment is administered. The chemotherapy vapors have a foul odor to them and when the doctors rub the flavored ChapSticks in the patients’ masks, it changes the smell of these vapors to the flavors of the ChapStick such as chocolate, Dr. Pepper or fruit flavors.
“Owen’s favorite flavor of ChapStick is the chocolate chip cookie dough,” Avery said.
Avery has been giving presentations to all sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in assembly forum about her younger brother Owen and the horrifying effects of Leukemia. She has collected more than 1,000 ChapSticks to Leukemia patients.
OHS Spanish teacher Lori Wooley stated, “When I met Avery, she seemed quiet but very grounded. She definitely knew what her purpose was and even taught me a few things, but she has been through much more than any eighth grader should ever have to go through.”
After Wooley received a letter from Schumann Elementary regarding the ChapStick drive, she thought that it was odd that it had not reached the high school. Wooley sent an e-mail to all of the teachers explaining the drive and that if anyone could pitch in a donation to this cause she would go pick up the ChapSticks to donate to the drive. The OHS staff was able to collect $144 in two days, and Wooley ended up buying 101 ChapSticks from Claire’s and Target.
Wooley said that Avery’s drive “was a small, tangible, realistic project that has gone huge.”
Owen is doing well, but he has not been able to come back to school yet this year. He was scheduled for his bone marrow transplant on Oct. 11.
In addition to the efforts for Owen, Orono High School students have been inspired to action by senior Nick Manzoni. Manzoni was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in his calf muscle and has been undergoing chemotherapy. The cancer is usually found in the bone, making Manzoni’s case extremely rare. Manzoni is featured in the article “Down, but not out” on page 14.
Calculus BC class decided to raise money for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund to honor Manzoni and contribute to helping find a cure for cancer. Senior Ben Engler and calculus teacher Michelle Swenson came up with the idea to ask teachers do crazy things to their appearance, and 12 teachers volunteered for the cause.
Each teacher volunteer had a jar with their name on it, and students had one week to donate to the jars during lunches. For the teachers to go through with the plan, at least $100 had to be donated in their jar.
At the end of the fundraising week, every teacher had earned $100 or more in his or her jar, so there will be an event to give these teachers their new looks. The “Calc. Cuts Cancer” drive raised $1300, a sum of money that will make a big difference in the lives of many affected by cancer. For more on this effort, and to see what teachers have pledged to do to their appearances, see the feature on page 9.
It is times like these that show the true character of Orono, and make us proud to be a part of this outstanding community.
Talia Zadeh is the Editor in Chief of the Spartan Speaks. Taylor Peterson is the News Editor of The Spartan Speaks