'Day of Gray' raises art awareness, while 'Think Pink' remembers Greenwood teacher

Jessica A. Botelho
Posted 10/24/13

Greenwood Elementary students are full of unique ideas. They spearheaded fundraisers like “Day of Gray” to prove how bland life would be without color and art, and “Think Pink” to support …

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'Day of Gray' raises art awareness, while 'Think Pink' remembers Greenwood teacher

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Greenwood Elementary students are full of unique ideas. They spearheaded fundraisers like “Day of Gray” to prove how bland life would be without color and art, and “Think Pink” to support breast cancer research.

Fifth graders Alicyn Noel, 10, Olivia DeGaetano, 10, and Kaci Kanterman, 10, planned “Day of Gray,” which took place on Friday, while fourth grader Luke Meunier, 9, came up with the idea for “Think Pink,” to be held later this month.

On the way to the dentist, after Luke’s mother Stephanie told him October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, he asked his dentist to give him pink elastic bands for his braces. From there, he talked to Stephanie about “Think Pink,” and she connected with teachers and Principal Dennis Winn.

Not only is the event a means to raise funds for breast cancer research, as each student who wears pink will donate money to the cause, it’s in honor of Denise Walker, who died of breast cancer in February. She taught at the school for more than 23 years.

“I decided to do something for Mrs. Walker because she had cancer,” Luke said, noting that she was his first grade teacher. At the end of that school year, she offered used books to students, and Luke scooped one up.

“I still have that book. It has some of my favorite stories in it,” he said.

Breast cancer also impacted Luke’s family. The disease claimed the life of his great-grandmother, while his grandmother is a survivor.

“A lot of people have breast cancer, and I wanted to show some support,” he said.

Stephanie, along with her husband Ray, is impressed that their son is being proactive.

“He’s a pretty amazing kid,” Stephanie said. “He’s not doing it for the attention, he’s just thoughtful.”

As for “Day of Gray,” students, along with teachers and other staff members, dressed in gray to promote art and color appreciation. Alicyn got the idea from “Sage Paints the Sky,” an American Girl book and movie, before encouraging her classmates Olivia and Kaci to help spread the word.

The trio of girls adore art and approached their teacher, Jennifer Stevens, who asked art teacher Naomi Messier what she thought about the idea. She loved it, so they then talked to Winn, who advised them to speak to sixth grade teacher and student council leader Cheryl Stacy. After meeting with the council, which is comprised of fifth and sixth grade students, they were granted approval.

“We had a vote and everyone wanted to do it because they love the art program,” said Stacy, noting that the student council also approved Luke’s “Think Pink” idea. “Anytime the students want to do something that will improve our education, we support it. They are very excited about it. It gives them a chance to have a voice. They are a very dedicated group of kids.”

Stevens agrees.

“I was pretty blown away by the idea,” she said. “I had never heard of anything like that and I thought it was really mature of them to want to do something for the art program at Greenwood.”

Alicyn’s father, Curtis, is also pleased his daughter is encouraging other children to enjoy art.

“She’s always been extremely creative and artistic,” he said. “She really likes art class, and she explained the whole thing to me and I told her to do it. They even made posters to hang in the school to promote it.”

Alicyn has been drawing since she was 3, and especially likes to draw cats and dogs, as she has two cats and a dog. She said she is fond of art because it gives her a sense of freedom.

“You can do whatever you want,” she said. “Life would be boring without art because it would be colorless. Everything would be so sad.”

Looking around at her classmates during “Day of Gray,” she further expressed her emotions.

“I feel really good,” Alicyn said.

Her peers share similar sentiments. Olivia said she feels “really happy and proud. Art helps kids express their feelings,” while Kaci said, “It feels good that were are helping people by raising all this money for art. I like painting the best because you can mix pretty colors together.”

Other students agree. Evan McGrath, 11, said he enjoys doing colorful paintings, as well as drawing anime characters.

“I also like to draw human faces, eyes, landscapes and animals,” he said.

Madison Dalton, 10, and Max Savaria, 11, feel the same. Madison said, “Everyone is inspired by [Day of Gray] because if the world was all gray, there would be no color or experience of art,” while Max said, “It’s fun because it would be boring if we [wore gray] every day. And it helps a good cause. Everyone loves art because our art teacher is really nice and we get to do fun stuff.”

Each student who wore gray donated 50 cents to the school. Funds will be used for art supplies.

Winn, who was clad in gray, said he is “proud beyond belief.”

“One of the jobs we have is to help students realize their potential as leaders, and that’s what they’re doing,” he said. “It’s amazing.”

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