Evan Nathanson

Prepared for a splash, Senior, Noah Prample, sat above the water at Solon High School’s annual Dunk Tank on Oct. 10.

Solon High School’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) recognizes breast cancer awareness throughout October with initiatives such as the Dunk Tank and the Pink Out Football Game. The Dunk Tank occurred in the parking lot outside of senior commons on Oct. 10. and the Pink Out Football game later that night at 7 p.m. Last year SADD raised $4,500 towards breast cancer research. They have yet to calculate the amount made this year, but they expect it to be greater.

Club advisor Michelle Shene said SADD and its initiatives are important.

“I feel like everyone gets touched by breast cancer one way or another in their lives,” Shene said. “They might know someone who has it or has it themselves. Especially with the decrease in federal grants and funding that’s happening right now, it’s important to fundraise and raise money for a reason. I’m a woman, so this is important to me. My best friend died of breast cancer when she was 40.”

Kate Williams, a breast cancer survivor, attended the Solon Pink Out Football Game on Oct. 10.

“I developed breast cancer during my third pregnancy when I was 37 years old,” Williams said. “I found my own lump. Doctors dismissed my concerns that the lump in my breast was cancer due to my age and the changes that occur in breasts during pregnancy. I was diagnosed three months after I found my lump that turned out to be a cancerous tumor, which had grown to be stage 2, only due to self-advocacy and insistence that I get a mammogram, despite being under the age of 40. I would have died if I had listened to my doctors initially.”

Williams said this issue is important for kids to learn about.

“Breast cancer is not one simple disease, and it does not only affect older women,” Williams said. “Men get breast cancer, young women get breast cancer and even teenagers can be diagnosed with breast cancer. I definitely did not know breast cancer was still so deadly when I was diagnosed, and I was shocked that I could not simply have surgery to remove it. I required six months of aggressive chemotherapy and then aggressive surgery, as many people still do.”

Williams said she hopes the efforts will raise awareness about the disease.

“I will be volunteering to help raise funds for Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF),” Williams said. “I support BCRF because the charity has more of their donations going to curing breast cancer than any other breast cancer charity. I am so lucky that I am able to use my experience to raise awareness and to raise money to further advance the cure for breast cancer.”

It isn’t very common for a high school to honor someone who has had personal experience with Breast Cancer, according to Shene. That football game was Solon’s first time inviting a breast cancer survivor to represent the cause.

“It is incredible that folks who are not yet into their adult lives have the charitable inclination to do something positive to help those afflicted with life-threatening and altering diseases,” Williams said. “There are probably many students whose parents, family members, teachers or other loved ones have been affected by breast cancer in some way. It is something that we can all agree is worth trying to cure.”

Senior Noah Prample, SADD Officer and band member, said his experience was a lot of fun participating in the Dunk Tank.

“It was so fun,” Prample said. “I’ve always wanted to be in the dunk tank since I was a freshman, and it was just as good as I thought it would be.”

Prample also performed during the halftime show in the SHS Marching Band and said he enjoyed watching our team play on our home field and loved getting to wear their special pink gloves to honor breast cancer awareness.

“I think it’s amazing what the school and SADD does to help for breast cancer awareness,” Prample said. “We raise thousands of dollars every single year and it’s so cool. SADD is an amazing club, and I cannot wait to see what the club does after graduation.”