It began as a mention in passing-by when Kathryn Knapp, a Child Development Advisor at the Prince of Peace School, shared with another faculty member that she and her younger sister wanted to shave their hair off in support of their aunt who is currently undergoing chemotherapy in Ottawa.
“She mentioned it in the office at the school,” says Principal Todd Hennig, “and suddenly we had a handful of staff who were willing to shave their heads in support of her aunt as well.”
From there, a school-wide movement began which involved both staff and students with collecting donations for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, which funds cancer research centers in Alberta. Donations such as these are extremely valuable, as research has found that there are over 200 types of cancer, and over 70% of them are curable. Suddenly, it went from a staff member and her younger sister wanting to shave their hair in a endearing way to support a close family member they could not physically be with during treatment, to 28 students and staff members either cutting their hair to make wigs, or shaving the hair off completely. ”It’s very hard not being able to be there with her for treatment,” says Knapp’s younger sister Becky McMaster, “but I’m excited because it’s a surprise. She has no idea that this is happening right now.”
Knapp adds, “We are going to send pictures of ourselves with our newly shaved hair as well as the amount that we raised for this foundation. It’s amazing that how much this idea grew, with so much support from both the staff and students.”
Over 90% of the people in the gymnasium during the assembly raised their hands when asked if they knew somebody who currently has, or has had cancer before. It solidified the unity of the school community at that moment by showing that people who are being affected by a close member of their family who is diagnosed with cancer, or have been diagnosed themselves, are not alone.
Stylists from Luna, Maleks, as well as independent stylists from Chestermere were the official hair cutters for the event, with donations made from both Starbucks and Safeway.
Karen Adballah, another staff member at the school, got up to speak about how her own mother had battled cancer and how much she looks up to her for her mother’s strength. She went on to discuss how she was away for the first half of the school year. “I have cancer,” Abdallah announces with a wavering voice, “I’ve had surgery done to remove it, but it still lingers in my body.”
The emotional and moving speech evoked tears, but also a strong sense of support from the students and staff members. With the closing of her speech, Adballah announced that she too would be getting her hair shaved.
The final amount of donations was announced at the end of the assembly, with a grand total of $6,413.85 raised for the Alberta Cancer Foundation. $276.00 of this final donation was raised by the Grade 4’s and 5’s, who held a bake sale which was an entirely independent effort.
“My aunty has a larger than life personality and a contagious laugh,” says McMaster, “and this whole event just shows how important it is to remember that life is truly a gift, and you need to make every day count.” If you would also like to donate to the Prince of Peace School’s fundraising efforts for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, you can visit http://albertacancer.ca/princeofpeaceschool.
