Seneca Trail PS Honours Teachers Who Passed Away

To date, staff and students have raised over $2600 for Lakeridge Health’s Cancer Centre

In 2015, the Seneca Trail Public School community lost one of their beloved teachers, Lisa Ducharme, to brain cancer.

Since 2018, students and staff at the Oshawa school have honoured Ducharme by hosting ‘Ducharme Day,’ upon which they dress up in colourful scarves and donate $2 to Lakeridge Health’s Cancer Centre. The idea for Ducharme Day came from four students in Grade 6 at the time (Grade 8 now), who wanted to make a difference: Jenna, Madison, Hailey, and Madisen.

Cristina Cox, Principal of Seneca Trail PS, says that to date the school has raised over $2600 for the Cancer Centre.

Unfortunately, in 2019 the Seneca Trail PS community lost another teacher, Kim Clausen. Clausen also passed away from a form of cancer. This additional loss prompted the girls to make an even bigger difference.

Ducharme Day has been renamed ‘Clausen/Ducharme Day’ and for the past two years, along with the regular donation of $2, the girls hosted a bake sale for the entire school.

The annual fundraiser always takes place at the end of January, on a date chosen to be on or near Ducharme’s birthday.

“This year alone we raised $856,” enthuses Cox.

A Wake-Up Call

Last year, before Clausen had passed, Cox and the four girls were invited to experience a tour of the Lakeridge Health Cancer Centre in Oshawa. Cox says visiting the Cancer Centre took cancer from merely being an abstract concept and made it much more tangible and real to the students.

“A lot of people are affected by cancer. Whether they have a family member or friend with it, or they have it themselves,” explains Jenna, a Grade 8 student and one of the fundraising organizers.

“From our school, two teachers had been diagnosed with different types of cancer, and both passed away. This was sort of a wake-up call, telling us that we needed to act. Going to the hospital and learning about the machinery and equipment used to help these patients was a really good experience.”

Jenna adds, “Any contribution can help. As a school, we have raised money to contribute to better treatments. Cancer patients deserve the best possible care.”

Future Leaders

Cox notes that organizing and contributing to these fundraisers will show students the importance of being activists in the community, “They are our future leaders and we need to instill the belief that they can be change agents. If we raise them to be involved in their communities, then they become adults that believe they can make a difference.”