In this article, Audrey will provide an update on our school sparrow, Tasha. She will also summarize fundraising events, and report on the amount our school raised, and explain all the events that happened to support Tasha.
By: Audrey Roetling
Every year, GPHS adopts a student in the community with a life-affecting illness or condition to fundraise for their medical expenses. These individuals become known as the school sparrow. This is done through a non-profit organization called Sparrow Clubs that directly communicates with the GPHS’ Leadership program to organize annual, schoolwide fundraisers including sparrow vouchers, the Father-Daughter Dance, 50/50 Ticket Sales, and the Coin Drive for the sparrow's medical expenses.
This year, the sparrow is an eighteen-year-old girl named Tasha, who was supposed to attend and graduate from Grants Pass High School for her senior year, before being diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. Tasha is said to be adventurous, determined, and courageous. She loves honoring her Native American Yurok heritage, riding dirt bikes, fishing, and hunting--which is why every event supporting her this year had a camo theme.
In Jan. 2024, Tasha was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a cancer that attacks the adrenal glands that are found on the top of the kidneys. It was also discovered that she only had one kidney, which had a small tumor on it, and the stage-4 cancer was also spreading to her liver, bones, and skull After the diagnosis, Tasha was immediately put on treatments that included chemotherapy, radiation, stem cell transplants, MIBG, biologic therapy, and immunotherapy. She has flown to a specialty center in New York multiple times because her condition is so rare that there is no hospital she can go to in Oregon for treatment. One of these treatments, in Sept. 2024, included a 12-hour surgery to get rid of the tumor on her kidney. However, many procedures will follow to remove the cancer that was scattered throughout her body.
On Oct. 26, Grants Pass High School had their Father-Daughter Dance in which all proceeds went to Tasha. The total amount of money raised from the dance consisted of $1,200. The dance was organized by GPHS Leadership’s Community Outreach Committee, for all kindergarten to fifth grade students. The dance was advertised in emails to all D7 elementary schools, and the Daily Courier newspaper. Leadership students also hung up flyers at local businesses, churches, and gyms. The theme consisted of castles and fairy decorations hung around the school that were designed, painted, and cut out in advance. High school leadership students volunteered for various positions, such as decorating, setting up DJ equipment, taking pictures for father-daughter couples at the photo booth, playing music as DJs, entertaining the girls dressed as Disney princesses, leading the craft room activities, and working the concession stands. Tasha was invited to the dance-- since it was thrown to support her. While attending, she commented on how she was refreshed with childhood memories via the experience.
Dec. 26, was the Sparrow Kick-off Assembly, which was held a little later than usual because Tasha was out of town for treatment during the fall. The assembly started off with a performance by the GPHS Chamber Orchestra, and immediately following, the attention was directed to a representative of the Sparrow Club named Kena Sampson. She introduced Tasha and informed students about how they could help support her through sparrow vouchers-- an online form where students can record their volunteer hours and write an encouraging message to Tasha. These volunteer hours could be from any activity-- including Leadership, National Honors Society, Key Club, Future Business Leaders of America, AVID, church services, volunteer babysitting, or mowing a neighbor's lawn. All of the hours recorded by students unlocked money from local sponsors to be given directly to Tasha, so it really was the easiest way students could show their support-- through word and action.
On Jan. 31, the Sparrow Camo-Out Basketball Game fundraiser was held, but Tasha was unfortunately gone for treatment, and could not attend. There were three basketball games happening that day, including the varsity girls' basketball game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the varsity boys' basketball game at 7 p.m., and a freshman boys' basketball game in the small gym at the same time. Leadership students sold 50/50 raffle tickets at the door and walked the aisles, selling tickets during the two varsity games. During halftime of the varsity boys basketball game, the winner of the 50/50 raffle was announced; however, the money was generously returned back to Tasha. Leadership also held a half-time activity fundraiser called Chuck-for-A-Buck, in which anyone can pay one dollar to make a half-court shot. If they get it, then they win a prize. The total amount of money fundraised from the basketball game was $1423.88. Furthermore, GPHS Yearbook ran concessions at both basketball games and donated all of their proceeds to the Sparrow, rather than collecting the money for their own club expenses. Keira Workley, Vice President of the Yearbook, stated, "It's heartbreaking to see individuals and families face cancer. Organizations like the Sparrow Foundation step in to fill this void, providing crucial assistance and hope. Donating is simply the right thing to do, a way to show solidarity and make a tangible difference in someone's life during an incredibly tough time."
The last fundraising event held for Tasha by GPHS was the annual Coin Drive, which ran from Mon. Apr.7 to Wed. Apr.16. The foyer was decorated with paper cash cutouts and streamers to serve as a reminder that the event was occurring. Every day, the Leadership’s Community Service Committee separated into two groups-- one to retrieve coins from the upstairs and downstairs levels of the core building, and one group to retrieve coins for the science building, protech building, PAC, gymnasium, and commons. The groups all had about four students, one who stayed with the cart and ran coins to a counter and others who gave a brief reminder about the coin drive, retrieved the boxes, and returned them after the counter was done. The coin drive was set up so the coins represented a positive value and dollars represented a negative value in the class total. Students could add coins to their fourth period class or add dollars to other classrooms to put other class values in the negatives. The six classrooms with the highest absolute value won donuts, including the top three positive values and bottom three negative values. The winning classes this year for positive values included Ms. Mendoza, Mrs. Nash, and Mr.Linderman; the three most negative classrooms included Mr.Belcher, Mr.Knight, and Mrs.Hood. This year, a QR code was introduced on the box. If students scanned the QR code after donating, they would receive 5-star points and be entered to win an individual prize, which was drawn every day during the coin drive. The total amount of money raised was $1,393.56.
The Spring Pep Rally concluded the year's involvement with the Sparrow Club until next fall. Unfortunately, Tasha was unable to attend since she was in Portland receiving chemotherapy. The assembly featured most of the spring sports: Track, Boys' Volleyball, Golf, Girls' Tennis, and Boys' Tennis-- although Baseball, Softball, and varsity Track were at their competitions. The sports all entered with signs that had encouraging messages for Tasha. The assembly also played a video of Tasha thanking Grants Pass High School for their support in fighting this battle against cancer as a community. Other events of the Pep Rally included a speech by Kea Sampson of the Sparrow Clubs thanking GPHS for their support, the announcing of Prom Court, and a large variety of assembly games. The assembly concluded by summing up all of the fundraisers Grants Pass High School held throughout this year and showed students the larger impact of their efforts, no matter how small they may have seemed at the time.
Tasha should have been attending Grants Pass High School to graduate with the Class of 2025 but, due to unfortunate circumstances, her life took a different turn. The fundraisers ask very minimal commitment from students at Grants Pass High School-- to contribute at least a dollar or two to the coin drive, to have a parent sign up a younger sibling for the father-daughter dance, or to perform at least one hour of community service and record it to a sparrow voucher--which many individuals at this high school are required to have anyway through church, AVID, Leadership, FBLA, National Honors Society, or Project Youth+. In situations where the student body can have compassion and do something for an individual's life, without any selfish ambition of what they will receive in return, it lifts the burden of the struggle for another family’s life. This year, these efforts went to support Tasha. We can continue to keep her in our thoughts and prayers as she stays strong in this battle--backed by the GPHS community.
Interview with Keira Workley
