SMS Steps Ups To Aid Student In Need

When Sedalia Middle School students learned that one of their fellow fifth graders was battling brain cancer, they stepped up to support and protect him.

Christopher Gutierrez was diagnosed with brain cancer over the summer. SMS Counselor Dana White said that when Chris shared with his classmates that he would be undergoing chemotherapy,

“Their response was overwhelmingly supportive. They asked thoughtful questions and expressed a strong desire to help. One student even said, ‘So we’re like his bodyguards.’ They were eager to protect him during recess and P.E.,” he said.

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Knowing how expensive cancer care would be for Chris’s parents, Reynaldo Gutierrez and Liliana Rangel-Blas, SMS administrators and teachers launched a building-wide Change War that ran from Oct. 14-31, with all proceeds going to the family.

SMS Principal Jeremy Fry threw in an incentive: the academic team that raised the most money would win an extra recess and a pizza party.

The SMS community raised $3,436.75 for Chris’s medical costs, with Team Stealth leading the way. “This spirit of support has spread throughout our entire school community here at SMS, with students rallying around Chris and demonstrating their generosity through heartfelt donations,” White said.

Reynaldo Gutierrez said, “It is a lot of support for us and we really appreciate it. We are thankful for every student and staff (member) and everything that they have done for my boy.”

Chris lost his hair as a result of his chemotherapy treatments, but he has kept a sense of humor about it, dressing as Mr. Clean for Halloween. White said Chris is “an incredibly positive student with an optimistic outlook. … His smile is always present, and it's truly contagious.” Chris said his classmates’ efforts “means all of the world to me. … They felt kind of bad for me. I just can’t thank the school enough.”

Cutlines:

Photo1: Sedalia Middle School Principal Jeremy Fry, right, presents a check for $3,436.75 to SMS student Christopher Gutierrez, front, and his parents, Liliana Rangel[1]Blas and Reynaldo Gutierrez, during an assembly on Thursday, Nov. 21, in the SMS gym. The money was raised through a schoolwide Change War in October.

Photo2: The Gutierrez family is surrounded by Sedalia Middle School staff members and students in Team Stealth, who raised the most money in the Change War to benefit their classmate, Christopher Gutierrez.