Spring Branch ISD Featured News

 

Students at Stratford High School are sporting a color other than green this month, and it’s not the traditional pink associated with October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  

Students at Stratford High School are sporting a color other than green this month, and it’s not the traditional pink associated with October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

This October it’s the color blue that unites the Stratford community on a singularly focused goal – supporting a friend and classmate, Grace Mosby. Grace is fighting a rare type of bone and soft tissue cancer called Ewing Sarcoma. In a separate but related situation, campus and community supporters have rallied around a Landrum Middle School student who is also battling the same rare cancer. 

 

 

Students around the school and across the community are donning sky blue Gladiators for Grace T-shirts to show their support. The Stratford Spartanaires are spearheading the campaign. Grace is a member of the Spartan Class of 2019.

“Grace is always so loving to everyone,” said Spartanaire Maddie Gentil. “We want to rally around her and show her she’s not alone in this trial in her life and that we love her and support her every step of the way.”

The Spartanaires are a school dance team that provides opportunities for students to perform at school sporting events, pep rallies and games. Team members don’t just dance, however. 

Members learn commitment, self-discipline, and how to be an engaged member of a larger community. It’s those lessons that are shaping the gladiator-strength response for Grace.

Along with the fundraiser T-shirts, now on sale for $15 during lunch periods and during school hours in the main campus office, the team is handing out inspirational bracelets and coming up with creative ways to keep the connection between Grace and her fellow Spartans strong.

Students line the hall to leave messages on a special message board for Grace, an idea the students came up with to establish a sense of normalcy and routine. Each week, they place the sign in the Mosby’s front yard for Grace to view. 

“Grace gets to see comments from everyone – even people she didn’t expect. It’s about the entire community. I think it’s great,” said Claire Johnson, Spartanaire president.

“It has been truly an amazing experience to watch this group of girls join together and rally behind Grace,” said Elly Gibson, teacher and director of the Stratford Spartanaires. “I am just so proud to watch them do this.”

That rallying has inspired others in the Spring Branch Family. Memorial High's dance team, The Markettes, recently joined Strafrod's efforts to support Grace. This example of #CollectiveGreatness is something that's made an impression with the Spartanaires and campus Principal Chad Crowson.

"It's amazing to see this tremendous outpouring of support, not only at Stratford but at our neighboring schools as well. Seeing all of Spring Branch come together like this makes me proud to be part of the community," said Crowson.

 

 

This school year is Gibson’s first year at Stratford, and for her, the experience embodies this campus’ mission – committed to learning, working together, enriching lives. Gibson appreciates how a challenge can be transformative.

“The school experience is so much more than just academics…it’s really about these truly life-changing moments and the impact you can have when you all come together,” said Gibson.

As the slogan on the back of the Gladiator’s for Grace shirt states  -  HOPE, FIGHT, CURE - the Spartanaires and the entire Stratford Community will keep hoping and fighting until Grace has her cure. By Gibson’s assessment, Grace will be back with her teammates and school community soon.

“You’re the strongest person I know,” said Gibson. “You got this.”

Funds raised by T-shirt sales are being used to assist the Mosby family. For more information, contact the school’s main office.

 

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Submitted by Melissa Wiland, SBISD Communications, melissa.wiland@springbranchisd.com.