The Roanoker - February 2014 - 60

To see the community come
together for a good cause and
to see it go beyond the school
and even beyond Botetourt
is wonderful.
Mike Gibson, the head of the art department and
known to his students affectionately as "Gibby" also
found Taylor's spirit inspiring.
"Most teenagers would be totally devastated, but
she comes in the next day with a pan of brownies that
a person gave her and she wanted the whole class
to share her brownies," he says. "That's the kind of
person she is."
Taylor was even involved in the process of the
pumpkins herself.
"She painted pumpkins," Pope says. "She actually
didn't even know it was about her."
The intimate bond between the art department staff
and students inspired the Salem High community to
paint more than 95 pumpkins. One thing they did
not expect however was the reaction from the city of
Salem itself. Members of the community responded
enthusiastically to the pumpkin fundraiser, boosting
the sales of their pumpkins to more than $500 for
the Petty family. Local radio and television stations
helped spread the word and organizations donated
the raw materials to help the project.
"People started coming out of the woodwork ordering pumpkins, some even multiple at a time," Carr
says.
It was clear that these students inspired the community to act and lend support where they could.
"We are a very actively involved community. We
grew up here and we've been teaching here a long
time," says Pope. "When the community hears we're
doing something they respond." -SV

BOTETOURT COUNTY SCHOOLS
What began as a school rallying in support of one of
its students has grown not only into a communitywide effort, but a regional and national project as well.
The attention and encouragement has overwhelmed
Savannah Day, the student at Read Mountain Middle
School, and her family. And with so many people willing to help her, she in turn wanted to help others.
Savannah's mom Michelle says her daughter began having stroke-like episodes in sixth grade. After
searching for a diagnosis, they ended up at Cincinnati

60 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014

Children's Hospital, where it was confirmed that Savannah had hemiplegic migraines. They also found a
chiari malformation in her brain, which was blocking
spinal fluid from flowing in and out of the brain. At
press time, Savannah was set to have brain surgery.
Once the school was alerted to Savannah's need for
surgery, administrators and staff immediately began
efforts to help the family with medical bills. Summer
Underwood, a Read Mountain teacher and sponsor of
the school's FOR Club, an organization dedicated to
performing random acts of kindness and promoting
a positive school culture, made sure that all students
were first informed of and educated on Savannah's
condition. To show Savannah the school's level of support, Underwood came up with "Cheer for Savannah"
t-shirts to sell. The sales quickly went beyond RMMS.
"People in the community, the other middle school
in the county and even a school in Ohio have purchased t-shirts," Michelle says. Schools in Roanoke
County have shown interest as well.
"It's been amazing," adds Underwood, especially
to see other ways students are willing to help. "Two
sixth graders came up to me and handed me a bag
of money. They had made and sold cupcakes to raise
funds. They did it all on their own. Savannah has
touched more people than we realize."
The t-shirts are purple, a color that represents conditions related to the brain, so Lord Botetourt High
School held a "purple night" at a football game in
honor of Savannah. Cheerleaders wore the shirts and
the athletes wore purple shoelaces.
"To see the community come together for a good
cause and to see it go beyond the school and even
beyond Botetourt is wonderful," says RMMS principal
THE

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