Some Dallas ISD kids are painting the town pink. For the second year in a row, students at Zan Wesley Holmes Jr. Middle School are creating artwork on a different kind of canvas.
In minutes, this once orange vegetable transforms into an inspirational piece. It’s just one way these students plan to inspire breast cancer patients while also encouraging survivors and their families.
Eighth-grader Alejandro hopes one day doctors will find a cure.
“It shows that there’s millions of people that have breast cancer and maybe if we write, we could probably find the cure,” Alejandro said.
The canvas serves as a backdrop to a personal connection for eighth-grader Catherine Mendoza. At age 7 she witnessed her grandmother undergo breast-cancer treatment.
“It was kind of hard seeing her go through all of that [be]cause she lost her hair,” Mendoza said.
She and classmate Myra Gonzalez are now helping paint the pallet of pumpkins to be on display during the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure survivors’ tent.
“We wanted to do glitter because we thought it gives it that shine, and that hope,” said Mendoza.
Shant’a Straughter, the school’s nurse, watches Mendoza and Gonzalez place the finishing touches on their creations. She created this form of artistic expression as an educational outreach for students whose families are dealing with the disease.
“Because I know families are affected by breast cancer. And I came up with the idea of creating the pumpkin pink,” said Straughter.
Decorated using colorful beads, rhinestones, ribbons and other embellishments, this year Straughter thought to add more color.
“I have been teaching that breast cancer does affect men as well, so, a little more blue than we have pink,” Straughter said.
Blue to help remind those like Alejandro about a disease that accounts for more than 2,200 new cases of male breast cancer each year.
“It makes me feel like I may have helped just a little bit to make them feel better,” said Alejandro.
