By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Students at North Jefferson Middle School are working hard to help others.

The school’s Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) are working along with Briana Morton’s family and consumer sciences students to raise funds for Stand Up 2 Cancer.

Stand Up 2 Cancer, a joint telethon between NBC, ABC and CBS, airs Sept. 5.

Morton will call during the telethon and pledge all funds that the students collect up until then.

“It started before the school year began because I found out that one of our staff members was diagnosed with cancer,” said Morton, who did not want to reveal the person’s name for privacy reasons. “When I started bringing it up with the students, I started hearing their stories. I just knew we had to do something.”

Those stories include eighth-grader Marissa Hays, an eighth-grader whose mother is a survivor of Hodgkin’s disease, and Katelyn Herrington, a seventh-grader who has several family members who have had cancer.

“What made me want to raise money was thinking, what if I had cancer,” said seventh-grader Korey Burns. “I put myself in their shoes.”

Morton said that Burns is “one of our number-one donors,” having given more than $11 in spare change.

Another student, seventh-grader Ty Reid, has a plan for curing cancer. He heard while playing a game that sharks might be immune to cancer.

His idea is to inject shark DNA into humans to make them immune as well.

“We could immunize the entire human population within a year,” he said.

In the meantime, however, researchers are still searching for a cure.

Teachers have placed buckets in every homeroom, the front office and the lunchroom. Every day, students place their change in the buckets and teachers turn the money over to Morton.

Recently, Morton said she got emotional while counting the money after school.

“Every coin I counted, I thought, this is a child’s coin,” Morton said. “It brought tears to my eyes knowing that they really do care.”

Principal Mary Beth Blankenship said she is proud of the school’s students and staff for their work.

“Every one of has a relative, friend or acquaintance that has been touched by this disease. One of the greatest things we can do as a school is to help provide funds to find a cure,” said Blankenship. “Maybe, just maybe, by doing this and educating our students, one of them, through their experience and education, might be the person who helps to find a cure.”

Pledges can be made at www.standup2cancer.org using the team name, North Jefferson Middle FCCLA.