Carlmont students embraced school spirit by dressing in pink to support the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Week.
The Associated Student Body (ASB) Clubs and Culture commission sponsored the event and created awareness by holding various activities throughout the week.
ASB posted pink flyers around the school, encouraging students to wear pink to Friday’s football game. During lunch, they sold Breast Cancer Awareness shirts, painted faces, and distributed free stickers and ribbons. On Friday, the sophomore class officers handed out pink frosted cookies.
At Friday night’s football game, students with painted faces and pink shirts lined the stands. ASB provided free pink wrist sweatbands, and Carlmont’s cheerleaders sported pink pom-poms.
“It’s important to show our support for survivors and awareness for breast cancer, so fewer people are affected by the disease in the future,” said Isabella Mattioli, the Clubs and Culture supervisor.
Breast Cancer Awareness Week is part of a national campaign that occurs every October and lasts the entire month. The campaign’s goal is to spread awareness to prevent the disease from developing in the future.
“I’m just happy this is something that students are aware of because it doesn’t matter how old you are, you need to be checked regularly, and you need to make sure that you’re healthy,” said David Braunstein, a Carlmont teacher.
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, approximately one in eight women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime. However, if the disease is detected early enough and localized, the five-year relative survival rate is 100%.
“Breast Cancer Awareness Week supports a disease that has affected my family. Both of my grandmothers have had breast cancer, so I take it personally,” said Riley Baum, a sophomore in ASB.
The National Breast Cancer Foundation also reveals that there are more than 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. In 2019, around 268,600 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.
“Breast Cancer Awareness is important, as all health-related issues are critical, but this disease, in particular, is because it affects so many people, especially women, of all ages,” Braunstein said.
This week of awareness truly brings people together to support an issue that is bigger than themselves.
“This event gives students at Carlmont a view of something that’s not just their life. By everybody wearing pink to a football game, you can see how this cause unites people,” Baum said.
