MIA Shows Spirit, Compassion

There was a lot of laughing, cheering, and school spirit on display Friday afternoon, February 13, at Marco Island Academy. But there was also a deep appreciation for the reason why everyone was gathered in the gymnasium for the annual pep rally.

"This is the service project for the Quill and Scroll International Honor Society for high School Journalists,” said Keith Scalia, the school’s journalism teacher. “This is what we do as a service project. It's our second annual Shave Your Head for St. Baldrick’s Foundation. We try to raise awareness for childhood cancer.”

Scalia said the pep rally was the culmination of a lot of hard work by his students.

“It's not just the event of the day,” he said. "It's like the cap off, but leading up to it is about a month of stories and videos and that sort of stuff.”

St. Baldrick's funds childhood cancer research. They are the largest non-government funder of childhood cancer research grants. Scalia calls on MIA students and staff to get involved by shaving their heads.

“This year we have 15 volunteers,” Scalia said, "12 students, three faculty members. We actually have our first girl who's getting it done, but she's not getting shaved. She’s cutting off ten inches of her hair, and that will be donated to Locks of Love."

Alex Rodriguez, a junior at MIA, is a Quill and Scroll member and news editor of the school paper, the Wave.

"It's a disease that can change someone's life forever,” Rodriquez said of childhood cancer. "And we really want to make sure people are aware of it. We provide opportunities for students to donate to the fund. So that way, the kids can have a chance at living. What's going on in the pep rally today is that students are shaving their heads bald to show awareness for kids with cancer. It's a really great event. We hope it changes some people."