In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, South Orangetown Middle School staff members put on their pink last Friday and raised $250 for Pennies in Action, a nonprofit which funds the development of dendritic cell vaccines for patients with early breast cancer.
The SOMS event was co-organized by science teacher Janesa Martinez and math teacher Jennifer Abrahamsen, a breast cancer survivor. “Our staff has a tradition of hosting ‘denim days’ throughout the year to support various charities,” explained Abrahamsen. “We’ve had many staff members who have battled breast cancer, including me. We lost Naomi Morgan, a beloved science teacher, several years ago to pancreatic cancer after she had already beaten breast cancer twice. Several of us have a BRCA mutation and are struggling with decisions about risk reduction and treatment options. Every staff member in our building has been touched by breast cancer in some way, personally, or through family and close friends.”
