Greetings fellow Oak Lawnians! Oak Lawn Community High School, 9400 Southwest Highway, will host Paint the Gym Purple on Feb. 11 from 5 to 9 p.m. The Spartans will host a night of basketball by taking on the Reavis Rams while the Lady Spartans take on the Eisenhower Cardinals.
Paint the Gym Purple is a fundraiser for students, their parents or legal guardians who have survived cancer. The event originally started as a kick-off to the high school’s Relay for Life event, another American Cancer Society fundraiser. The school has put that event on pause for now, but has decided to keep the Paint the Gym Purple function alive to support its Spartan students and their families dealing with cancer and also to promote awareness. The purple color is symbolic and represents the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event.
Eileen Jones and Laura Kerlin are teachers at the high school and both are committee members for Paint the Gym Purple. Jones, who also sponsors the Senior Class Advisory Club, has been teaching at the school for eight years, and Kerlin is in her second year.
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Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit the Scholarship for Spartan Survivors, which will be awarded to a senior student battling cancer. The scholarship recipient will be selected from essays the students submit about how cancer has impacted their lives. Criteria for selecting the scholarship award recipient are “based on thoughtfulness of their answers. We ask students to reflect on the impact cancer has had on their lives and how it’s changed them,” Jones said.
“Funding for the scholarship is raised in a few different ways. T-shirt sales are the biggest source of fund-raising for PGP (Paint the Gym Purple),” Kerlin said. Raffles during the event are also another source of funding. The scholarship awards “depend on the money raised, but we try to get as much as possible,” Jones said.
This is only the second year for the scholarship program, and last year’s recipient received $1,500. “If we could get $1,500 again or $2,000, that would be fantastic,” Jones said. “Scholarships will be awarded during the Senior Awards Night in May, and their parents are also invited,” Kerlin said.
The Paint the Gym Purple event is open to the public, and admission tickets can be purchased at the door. If you purchase a T-shirt ($10), admission is free. If you don’t purchase a T-shirt, the cost is $4 or $2 for students who don’t attend Oak Lawn High School.
Cancer survivors within the community also will be honored during the game’s half-time. Survivors will be asked to stand and be recognized. Jones said past turnouts for the annual event “have been a real community event — a touchstone event at the school.”
Here are this week’s celebrity announcements: Happy birthday to Jack Makuch, who’s turning 8, from his parents, brother, Luke, and sister, Ellie. Happy 11th birthday to Makayla Henry, from her parents, Mike and Jen, brothers Will and Ryan, Grandma Pat, Aunt Donna and Fenway. Happy 12th birthday to both Ronnie Guagenti and Julie Smith, from their grandparents, Sandy and Dave Wills. Happy birthday to Kevin and Mickey Haggerty, who are both turning 12, from their parents, Tim and Maureen. Theresa and Wally Antonowicz send their grandson, Anton Tomacic, a happy 13th birthday. Happy birthday to Nicholas Maslanka, who’s turning 18, from his parents, and Rosemary and Michelle. Happy 23rd birthday to Kyle Frega from his parents, and Kody and Patrick. Andrea DeMoss’ family wish her a happy 24th birthday. Birthday wishes go out to Christina Pender, who’s turning 24, from her parents, Tina and Tim, and Rachel. Nina Thorell’s family wish her a happy 26th birthday. Happy birthday to Kristen Brooks, who’s turning 31, from her family, Adam and Meaner. Happy 32nd birthday to Holly Bubel, from her parents, Nancy and Roy, and Kelly, Brian and Grandma Bubel. Happy birthday to Maurine Cody, from her mom, Patty. Birthday wishes go out to Amanda Olszewski from Chris Gornik, Lola and their families. Birthday wishes go out to Kelli Kelly from her family. Bertha Tapia-Herrera’s family wish her a happy birthday. Happy birthday to Yolanda Sawicki from her family. Birthday wishes go out to Bill Prusinski and to Jeff Blackburn from Mary. Jim Bruen’s children, Kelcey, Sean and Patrick, wish their dad a happy birthday. Les Sawicki’s family wish him a happy 69th birthday. Hank Castillo’s wife, Lori, wishes him a happy 72nd birthday. Happy 73rd birthday to William Braun, from his wife, Carol, and Dan, Tim and Julie.
Wedding anniversary wishes go out to the following couples: Bob and Kathy Cook; John and Betty Kastros; Michael and Beth Durkin’s 12th anniversary; Ian and Cori Ellis’ 28th anniversary; and Jim and Charlotte Dillon’s 38th anniversary.
Keep your fellow Oak Lawnians informed about birthdays, special events or special “stuff” going on with your family or within the community. Call me at 708-899-9544 or e-mail me at the address above.
Until next time …
Cheryl Petzel is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.