February 6, 2014 by Christine Akiki
Over the month of October, students in Mrs. Gordon’s statistics classes researched rare diseases and shared the information they found with each other. Many students knew or were related to someone who had the rare disease they had researched.
One student researcher said her disease topic had a personal connection to her family. “I chose to research Leukemia because my grandfather suffered with it for a long period of time and died from it. I definitely would want to support a cause towards it,” said senior Mae Campbell.
After speaking about disease, the students collectively voted to fundraise for one presenter. Leukemia and the Noonan Syndrome were chosen by each of the statistics classes because of the personal connection they had with some of the students.
Mrs. Gordon said, “[How] heartbreaking it [was] to see how many personal stories were related to each of the diseases everyone chose.”
People suffering from rare diseases today face many challenges as effective treatment is not available due to a lack of funds for in depth research. In her research about cell lymphoma a student explained that, “Many people, especially cell lymphoma patients like one of my family friends, live with painful symptoms that doctors can do nothing about.” She explained that she would have shared more about the disease if not for the emotion that overwhelmed her.
With such an influence these conditions have on individuals, support groups and money raising initiatives have become crucial in providing a better experience for patients and the people around them. More money from fundraising allows for research to be conducted about an unknown disease. “A small effort can go a long way,” said senior Karley Robinson, “and we should try to help those that need it most.” The students in each of the statistics class hope to begin fundraising this spring during their lunch periods.