Eaglecrest High school annually takes one week in February for an event called Wish Week. Beginning on February 4th and ending February 8th, the Eaglecrest community has been helping to raise money and advocate for patients in and around our community for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The mission of the LLS is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. They also conduct research on new treatments that could potentially cure cancer.

This year’s Wish Week proceeds are going to help Connor, a nine-year-old third grade boy from Black Forest Hills Elementary School. According to Caroline Wheeler, a family friend, “Connor is unable to attend school due to his weak immune system. He hasn’t been able to play with his friends for two years and now, and it has been very hard on him because he is a very social boy.”

“Despite not feeling the best, Connor continues to amaze others with his silliness and great attitude,” Wheeler writes.

Connor was first diagnosed with leukemia in May 2011 when he was only nineteen months old. He completed three and a half years of chemotherapy and was cancer free for almost three years. In a routine check-up, doctors found that Connor’s cancer had come back, resulting in him spending most of 2017 at Children’s Hospital. That August, Connor’s older sister Chloe donated her bone marrow to him, which helped him remain cancer-free until July of 2018, where his family learned that he had cancer yet again. This time, doctors tried CAR-T therapy, which treats leukemia by reprogramming cells to search for and kill cancer cells. LLS funded this research. Recently, at his three month post CAR-T checkup, Connor has been declared cancer free!

With Connor in mind, EHS Raptors kicked off Wish Week with a spirited and inspiring pep assembly on Friday, Feb. 1st. Throughout the week, students have dressed up in their pajamas, worn their favorite jerseys, paid $1 to wear a hat, suited up as their favorite superheros, and displayed raptor pride. Restaurant nights were held each night to further raise money for the cause.

This event has been a tradition at Eaglecrest for seven years, and student leadership always strives to enhance this event to be able to impact more lives each winter. With the help of StuCo teacher Rashaan Davis, the StuCo team brainstormed ideas of events to do during the week. One such event was the Miracle Minute, where bins were passed around to people at the Wish Week assembly, where everyone tried to put as much money as they could into the bin. After the Wish Week assembly, it was calculated that a total of around $500 was raised in one minute! Individual bins in classrooms and the activities office are still available if you’d like to donate. There is an online link to donate on the Eaglecrest website.

Wish week allows “our students feel inspired by the organization we’ve chosen and how that inspiration prompts them to give back in our first Miracle Minute of the year” exclaimed Student Body President Alexis Cook. The more students understand what Wish Week is for, the more “[we] can help kids help others” Davis states.

In addition, the money received from Mr. EHS goes directly to Wish Week’s cause, LLS. Last year, quite a few Eaglecrest teachers agreed to dye their hair red in order to raise money for the American Heart Association. For the 2019 Wish Week, similar incentives have helped students and teachers get involved. These spirited reactions from the administration and staff, added Davis, encourages the Eaglecrest community to, “build a habit and raise money” for the organizations the school supports.

Wish Week has had a significant impact on students already familiar with the tradition. Cook confirmed that she “love[s] wish week because it’s a time we get to give back to our community. It’s human nature to get filled up by helping others, so this week is all about giving back while at the same time getting close with people in our little EHS community.” Unfortunately, Wish Week is not as well-known as Homecoming week, which is what StuCo is attempting to change. For Cook, “[She wishes she could] change the hype around wish week [since] people think homecoming week is more important. [She] think[s] it should be the other way around.”

Bethanie Craft, the Student Body Vice President, wants students to know that “[her] favorite thing about Wish Week is the feeling that you really are making a difference in the world.”

Current StuCo representative David Akpokiere also states that “the benefit of having Wish Week is the whole community vibe. It’s a team effort– it shows how much our school cares about the whole community rather than just the school.”

Davis further notes that being able to “build skills in kids that are lifelong to bring awareness to things that might be super important to a student’s family or in our community, [is] important to highlight services [that students] can do to give back.”

In order to raise enough awareness and motivation throughout EHS, Raptors have spread the word to reach everyone across campus. Student Leadership has made posters featured around the school, and social media is booming with the hashtag “#ForConnor.” Many Eaglecrest students know a loved one or a person of significance who has been diagnosed or affected by cancer. What better way to help these people out, even if you don’t personally know them, than to let everyone know the importance of Wish Week?

Davis expects that “ [everyone] will understand caring, compassion, and a loving community after helping this organization out– It’s not about educating your mind, it’s about educating your heart.”