High School Confidential

By Heather Clausen

	Heather Clausen is a senior at Hendrick Hudson High School.

We are in high school, which means we are invincible to everything. There is no such thing as death, injury, or disease. That is not until we are older – much older. Right?

This is my fourth and final year of walking the halls at Hendrick Hudson High School. We have been very lucky to not have suffered any tragedies like many other schools do, which may be the reason that so many of us think we are Superman.

I play for the varsity softball team. One of our teammates, Shannon, is the happiest person we know. We have never experienced a game or practice without her laughing hysterically or grinning from ear to ear. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with cancer this year. We realized we were not so invincible after all and knew we had to step up to the plate and help her any way we can.

When I heard about the Stay Awake-A-Thon, I immediately thought of getting our team together to participate in this event in honor of Shannon. The Stay-Awake -A-Thon, which is on May 3 at Hen Hud High School, is a community event designed to celebrate with cancer survivors, remember those who lost their battle, and provide support and encouragement to those currently battling this horrible disease. You can stay for an hour, or all night!

We are hoping that Shannon will be able to join us at the event and participate in the survivor parade and other fun activities that will be going on all night including a live band playing music from the ’50s on up, family wacky relay races, karaoke, and much much more!

In order to raise money before the event, teams can do individual fundraising or team fundraising. We are doing several team fundraisers. Next week will be our main fundraising week. During the four lunch periods we will be holding a bake sale as well as selling lollipops. Also, we will be asking for donations and spare change. If we raise $1,000 or more, two of our teachers, Dr. Barcomb and Mr. Hallock, have agreed to shave their head in honor of all cancer victims!

We will also be hosting IPod Day where students will pay $1 in order to have the privilege of using their IPod for one day during study hall and lunch periods. In addition, we will have onsite fundraising which will include a pie-throwing booth!

No person should have to fight this terrible disease, especially someone so happy and so young. We need to find a cure for this. If you would like to make donations to Team Shannon please visit www.active.com/donate/cancerneversleeps/hhvs2007 or e-mail HClausen10@yahoo.com for information on how to send cash or check donations.

For more information about the event and how you can join us, visit www.henhudleos.org and follow the link to the Stay Awake-A-Thon.

Cancer never sleeps, and neither will we!