Last week at Haddonfield Memorial High School’s Spirit Week, there was more school spirit than normal. Individual classes came together to compete as well as raise money for charities, as they do every year. However, it wasn’t just about classes competing, but the school coming together as a whole.
“Spirit Week is about building unity and camaraderie between individual classes and as a school. We pride ourselves on our sense of community, so we build the community within each class and then together as a whole,” said Tracy A. Matozzo, dean of student life.
An individual really brought all classes together this year — senior Colin Hough. Colin had maintained his good grades, started a nonprofit organization called Unstoppable and kept a kind heart throughout his years at high school, all the while bravely battling a rare form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma. In late October, Colin passed away at the age of 17 from the cancer.
“Every time I hung out with him, he was a really great kid, and it was always really nice. It was fun to be around him. He was always optimistic. He knew how my dad was because my dad also had cancer, and he would help bring me up,” said Scott Young, co-secretary of the senior class.
“He was always involved in Spirit Week, even when he wasn’t in school. Our classmates really miss him,” Julia Fonshell, senior class president, said.
To honor Colin, instead of the individual classes dressing up separately last Monday, the school as a whole wore red for a Red Out day in support of Colin. Red rally towels and bandanas were sold and worn for Colin as well. Throughout Spirit Week, the senior class itself decided to keep his spirit alive and raise money for Colin’s charity.
“He was a huge part of our grade, and we wouldn’t have wanted to raise money for anything else,” said Carly Bonnet, co-secretary of the senior class.
Unstoppable began when Colin was going through his chemo treatments for hours and there was nothing to do. Colin would listen to music with noise canceling headphones to pass the time. However, without those headphones, it was quite noisy. That is when he decided to take action and make Unstoppable.
“In his thoughtful nature, he thought to make this charity and donate noise canceling headphones to other children who were going through chemotherapy. Unstoppable has slightly shifted. He want(ed) to help those who travel to get to their cancer treatment, too. He has always focused on helping others,” Mark Ricci, Colin’s step-father and husband of Colin’s mother Tracey Ricci, said in a previous interview.
“I think raising money for Unstoppable is important to them and helps them contribute to something that might give them a sense of hope, as opposed to the sense of helplessness that you feel when you lose someone to any disease,” Matozzo said.
“I feel like our grade has really come together to support each other during this time and also to honor Colin,” Fonshell said.
All classes at HMHS raise money for charities that affect their grade, or someone in their grade personally. The seniors, along with raising money for Colin’s charity, also raised money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and JVDRS, a charity for juvenile diabetes. The junior class raised money for the Brooke Mulford Foundation; the sophomores raised money for Go 4 The Goal; and the freshman class raised money for Wynona House.
“It is about his legacy. He can’t be here with us, but we can raise money for him. The fact that we are raising money for him keeps him in our minds. And I think that is what is important, not to forget,” Joey Reisman, senior class vice president, said.
Overall, the seniors were the winners for the 2014 HMHS Spirit Week.
Last Sunday, the school also held a Celebration of Life for Colin from noon to 3 p.m. Colin did not wish for a service, so to best suit the family and his wishes, a celebration of his life was held instead.
