You could hear the cheering and applauding in the gymnasium at North Hatley Elementary from outside the school Monday afternoon. But it wasn’t for a sporting event. It was to encourage 10 brave souls who decided to participate in the Leucan Shaved Head Challenge. And they deserved a cheering section. The fundraising event, which initially had a goal of $3,000 ended up more than doubling that for a total of $6,243.95 raised for Leucan Estrie, an organization that supports children stricken with cancer and provides services for their families to help deal with the stress and financial burden through all stages of cancer, from diagnosis and following treatment. It all started when North Hatley Elementary School (NHES) French second language teacher Marie-Pier Cabana reached out to Leucan Estrie to organize a Shaved Head Challenge. Maryse Richard, a Special Education Technician at the school immediately jumped on board to help. While Cabana initially got the ball rolling, in the new year she was transferred to work in Salluit, Quebec with the Inuit community. “She gave us the choice to opt out,” Richard explained, but the staff and students decided to follow through with the plan. “We started something, I want to go through with it,” Richard said, moments before she lost her locks for the challenge. “We want to show how simple acts of kindness can go a really long way.” See full story in the Tuesday, Feb. 25 edition of The Record.
Caring is contagious at North Hatley Elementary School
By Matthew McCully
