Senior project helps local clinic
A desire to help and showcase her fellow students’ talent inspires student to organize an arts showcase.
Model High School students will get a chance to showcase their artistic talents as well as raise money for a local clinic because of one senior’s project.
Sarah Kate Cochran, a senior at Model, decided this year to focus on a fundraiser for Haven Health Clinic, formerly the Rome Pregnancy Center, for her senior honors project.
She decided to hold a fine arts showcase — The Last Chance to Dance Project — at her school, featuring dancers, singers, a musician and dramatic performances. The show is today at 7 p.m. at the Model High auditorium. Tickets are available at the door and cost $3.
“All the funds go to help Haven” Cochran said. “My goal is to support them.”
Her hope to help Haven Health Center stems from a personal story.
“My sister is adopted from Vietnam,” she explained. “She became
part of our family when I was in second grade and she has been a wonderful part of our lives. Families across the world are blessed with children because their birth mothers choose to not abort them.”
Haven is a clinic that serves women experiencing unexpected pregnancies by offering a place of refuge and support.
Cochran also was inspired by her grandmother’s work at a clinic in
her hometown, she said.
When she decided to put on the showcase, she drew upon her friends and fellow classmates, she admitted.
“I’ve been a dancer for 11 years and I am involved in theater at school,” she explained. “Everyone loves a show and I thought it was a good way to raise funds and get people interested. My friends all offered to help.”
Response has been strong for her so far, she said.
“Everyone stops me in the hallway, saying, ‘I’m coming to your show, Sarah Kate,’” she laughed. “My friends helped paint signs and the teachers and community members are spreading the word and encouraging people to come.”
The experience has been educational for her, she said.
“It’s taught me how much work goes into putting a show together and it’s shown me how much a community can band together to achieve something,” she said. “And I definitely learned that it is always a lot more work than you originally think it will be.”