Jackson, Hoover to honor childhood cancer survivors, 'angels' at Friday's basketball game
JACKSON TWP. – It doesn't matter if you are a Polar Bear or a Viking, the rivals will come together today to fight as one against pediatric cancer.
Jackson Local Schools and North Canton City Schools will join forces to honor students who have battled cancer and those who lost their battle during the Hoover vs. Jackson basketball game.
The inaugural Childhood Cancer event will honor 14 Jackson and North Canton students, alumni and "angels" — those who have died — between the junior varsity and varsity basketball game. Organizers expect the ceremony to take place around 6:30 p.m. The junior varsity game begins at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity game at 7.
Who is being honored?
Honorees include:
Lukas Villilo, a sixth-grader at North Canton Middle School and cancer survivor, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2019.
Jade Poston, a senior at Hoover High School was diagnosed in 2010 at the age of 4 with rhabdomyosarcoma. She has been cancer-free for 12 years.
Jaden Yoder, a freshman at Hoover High School, was diagnosed days before his fifth birthday with Stage 2b B-Cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. After 2.5 years of treatment, he is three months after his diagnosis he started in remission.
Samuel Haws attends the North Canton Preschool. The 4-year-old has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was diagnosed in April of last year and is on track to be able to return to his class this month.
Annalynn Wheeler, a 7-year-old first grader at North Canton Primary School, had a diffuse astrocytoma brain tumor at the age of 2.
Davan O’Reilly is a 2018 Hoover High School graduate and a childhood cancer survivor who now lives in Columbus and is working toward a master's degree in public health. O'Reilly was diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma, a tumor in the left parotid gland (salivary gland) that spread, leaving her with 15% hearing in her left ear and complete paralysis of the left side of her face. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in public health.
Gabi Sabatino was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 2013 as an eighth grader at North Canton. Gabi died in December 2014.
Jayani Seth lost her battle with a brain tumor when she was 17 months old. She was diagnosed at the age of 5 months old, too young to undergo the curative radiation treatment, but lived through multiple surgeries, therapies, a variety of chemotherapies, and even experimental therapy trials at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis to help further research of the treatment of childhood brain cancers. She died in May 2006. Jayani’s brother, Jaideep, is a 2020 Hoover High School graduate and her sister, Trinity, is a junior.
Jackie Custer, a 2016 Jackson High School graduate, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in June 2014 before her junior year. A graduate of Mount Union, she is an intervention specialist at East Canton Middle School and coaches volleyball, basketball and softball.
McKenna Perkins, a junior at Jackson, was diagnosed in February 2009 with Stage 3 hepatoblastoma. She had four rounds of chemotherapy and a full liver transplant at the age of 1. This year, she will be cancer-free for 15 years.
Hallie Dieters, a third grader at Sauder Elementary School, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in June 2018. She finished treatment in 2020 and relapsed in October 2022. After Hallie relapsed twice last year, she was referred to Cincinnati Children's for CAR-T therapy, a therapy that didn't exist 10 years ago.
Luke Ritchey, a 2019 Jackson graduate, is a childhood cancer survivor. Luke was diagnosed with stage 4 Burkitt's lymphoma and leukemia in seventh grade. Luke graduated from Kent State University in May and is a logistics coordinator at Jarrett Logistics.
Danielle Dietrich graduated from Jackson in 2020. She was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2004. She has been cancer-free since 2006. She is a nursing student at Kent State University and will graduate in May.
Jordyn Myers died at the age of 13 in 2018. Her parents created Jordyn Strong in honor of their daughter to give hope and help to teens and their families after a cancer diagnosis.
The event will also honor "angel" Abbey Foltz, the daughter of Jeff and Nan Foltz, whose family started the local St. Baldrick's event.
Jackson, North Canton raising money for St. Baldrick's Foundation
The event also kicks off fundraising efforts by both districts to raise funds for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, a childhood cancer research charity.
To date, Jackson has raised $991,904 for the charity and plan to surpass the $1 million mark this year. Since 2019, the two districts have been engaged in a friendly competition to raise funds for St. Baldrick's. Last year, the two raised more than $220,000 for the charity.
Since 2003, the local St. Baldrick's events have raised nearly $2.8 million.
Gretchen Hull, Jackson student council adviser and one of the organizers of today's event, said the celebration grew from a simple idea to honor those who battle pediatric cancer.
"This is going to be really good," Hull said. "They say we are archrivals but we come together when it counts."
Students will pass around a bucket seeking donations. A QR code was created for each district to allow for additional donations for St. Baldrick's.
The basketball teams will wear a T-shirt designed by Regos during warmups. The orange and purple shirt includes a polar bear and Viking with the words "We fight together." Honorees and their families also will wear the shirt.
Each district will host a variety of events to raise funds for St. Baldrick's. At Jackson, high school students are participating in a duck drop. Students pay $1 for a duck, which is dropped off a mezzanine in the school into a pool. If their duck hits the bull's eye they can earn prizes.
Kristi Cropper, a third-grade teacher at North Canton and an event organizer, said in the past the North Canton students have held several fundraisers, including students paying a dollar to wear pajamas or hats to school, and have sold bracelets.
She said the families are appreciative of the event as well as the work the students do to raise money for St. Baldrick's.
"We have students that we are honoring that are angels and so I think the families appreciate that we haven't forgotten them and just keeping them at the foremost of what we are doing," she said.
North Canton Assistant Superintendent Dave Pilati said it is amazing to see so many people come together and rally around this cause.
The district's participation in raising funds for St. Baldrick's has raised awareness among not only students but their parents and the community.
"It is an amazing event for a cause that impacts everyone," Pilati said. "It doesn't matter if you wear purple for Jackson or orange for Hoover. Everyone knows someone who has been impacted by cancer."
They hope to make the kick-off event an annual event during the basketball season, organizers said.
"It's a nice united effort among the two schools who are rivals in the sports world but working together for the common good," Pilati added.
Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com.
This article originally appeared on The Independent: Jackson, North Canton schools honor pediatric cancer survivors, angels
