September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, YOU can help!

                    The Haynes Elementary family was blessed to meet a very special little girl last year. 

   Ava Dawson, started Pre K at our school and she and her story has touched many of our staff's and student's hearts.  Ava was diagnosed during the school year with DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma), a type of tumor that is located in the pons (middle) of the brain stem.  Due to this type of cancer's location and aggressiveness, it is one of the most devestating malignancies with the average survival rate lower than one year.  As of right now, there is no cure for DIPG and many other types of childhood cancer. It's a sobering reality that many families are forced to face. Little Ava is especially dear to my heart because my son Andrew was in her class and quite honestly, Ava is his first crush (deservingly so, as she is one of the sweetest, most beautiful little girls I've had the pleasure of meeting).  I really just wanted to take this opportunity to make everyone a little more aware of childhood cancer in support of September's Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
  We often hear about children with cancer and though our hearts break for them and their families, we feel as though there is little we can do to help.  So often, as children are diagnosed and treated they become too sick to attend school regularly, so as teacher's and parents we often lose contact with those families.  Sometimes we just don't know what to say or we assume they have enough support already.  We often do not have a chance to really make a difference because of these reasons, though I'm hoping to change that. Through Ava's incredibly strong and wonderful mother, Cynthia, I recently learned that the month of September is dedicated to Childhood Cancer Awareness.  Although I've known other children with cancer, I had no idea there was a whole month dedicated to it's awareness until now.  The sad news is that childhood cancer affects over 10,000 children under the age of 15, each year in the United States.  That's over 30 children diagnosed a day.  7 more children lose their fight with cancer every day.  The good news is that YOU can help save their lives!  I'm working with our administration to come up with ways that we can show our support for Ava's family and am planning on hosting a bone marrow donor registration event in Ava's honor sometime in the near future.  Just by sharing the yellow support ribbon image or Ava's image on your facebook page, your blog or as the signiture in your personal email you can help people become more aware!  
   As a parent it's impossible to imagine what families such as Ava's are going through.  I do however know, that Haynes has the most supportive parents in the district and the Killeen/Ft. Hood community as a whole, always pulls together to show their support for one another.  I hope that this post has helped you become more aware of childhood cancer in general.  You can follow Ava's story and show your support at http://hopeforava.blogspot.com  Hug your babies extra close tonight and thank you for taking the time to read this.   Sincerely, Mrs. Hensley