Daffodil Day not enough
Deserves a full week
Cancer sufferer Mary Crumb would be proud of how Forest View High School student leaders have expanded on the Daffodil Day legacy she left behind.
One day of raising funds and awareness has transpired into one week after seven Whakamaru Lake students spearheading the project decided the cause deserved more than 24 hours of attention.
The tradition began with Crumb, a former Whakamaru Lake dean who was diagnosed with cancer while still teaching at the high school in the early 90s.
Current Whakamaru Lake dean Aaron Mutua said it continued long after she left the school.
‘‘Here at FVHS we do have staff members who are affected and students whose families are affected,’’ he said.
‘‘It [Daffodil Day] pays respect to so many people. It deserves to have our time.’’
Whakamaru Lake leader Bruce Nguyen agreed.
‘‘It’s something that deserves a week instead of a day. If it’s a week it kind of seeps in I think.’’
Lake council leader Anisha Te Hiko said the school normally just does one day.
‘‘This year we wanted to build more awareness around why we have Daffodil Day.’’
Monday will be about promotion, she said, while Tuesday will see students complete a piece of work which express what hope means to them.
On Wednesday teachers have to decorate their classrooms yellow and on Thursday the students will participate in a game of dodgeball.
‘‘That is for people who have fought cancer and have survived or dodged it,’’ Te Hiko said.
There will also be a coin trail in the shape of a daffodil that the students can fill with gold coin donations.
Daffodils will be sold throughout the week and students will be encouraged to write a message on a display wall honouring victims, survivors and those who know someone suffering from Cancer.
‘‘By just doing these things we can help people. We just want to let people know that there is support out there,’’ Te Hiko said.
For more photos and an advertising feature on Daffodil Day see pages 9-11.