Coppell High School Principal Laura Springer is bringing over a tradition of wearing pink on Wednesdays from Coppell Middle School East. The color was chosen to raise awareness and support for cancer and those affected by the disease.

All CHS staff and administration wear pink every Wednesday. The practice highlights the impacts of cancer on those who are diagnosed and their family members. 

“Wearing pink is a good way to recognize cancer patients,” CHS senior Nils Collins said. “We showed our support for them at East and it’s cool that we get to continue that at the high school now.”

Collins attended East for three years with Springer as his principal and hopes she can unite CHS behind a common cause of looking out for those in need. 

“We have all been impacted by cancer,” CHS assistant principal Chris Gollner said. “We want those who struggle with the disease to know that we are there to support them in any way we can.”

Gollner compared wearing pink to the ice bucket challenge that helped raise awareness and money for a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 

“More awareness makes it more likely people will fund cure research,” Gollner said. “Mainstreaming a disease makes more people get involved in the search for a cure and gets us closer to hopefully curing it.”

Springer and teachers hope to create a larger sense of community in helping search for a cure for cancer.

“Ms. Springer is hoping to increase support for cancer patients,” CHS art and photography teacher Cameron Tiede said. “We are trying to show how much we care about each other and create more of a sense of community at CHS.”

Wearing pink and thinking of cancer patients can also be used to limit focusing on one’s own issues rather than the issues other people struggle with.

“I’m hoping we can learn to think of other people’s struggles more this year,” CHS algebra teacher Krissy Baker said. “We should step out of our focus on our own issues to realize everything other people may be going through.”

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