School Bulletin: Wish Week unites district to help young cancer patient

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Greendale elementary student is one step closer to having his wish come true, thanks in part to some dedicated high school students.

"It's fun to see everybody come together for this one thing, for this one child in Greendale," Ayanna LaPointe, a high school junior, says.

For the first time, Greendale High School has partnered with Make-A-Wish Wisconsin. All week the student council, along with other student organizations and teams, have been raising money 10-year-old Miles. He is living with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the body's immune system. Miles has asked for an above-ground pool, and the high school students have been determined to get him one.

LaPointe, who serves as a secretary and treasurer on the student council, says social media has boosted their fundraising efforts. She says the original goal was to raise $5,000 for Miles, but in just a few days after posting about it, they had already raised $3,000.

"It's insane! When we started this, we didn't know how much people would get involved, especially within our community and our school," LaPointe says.

The school's new goal is to raise $8,000, and the council's fundraising efforts have included some traditional methods like selling T-shirts, hosting coin drives in homeroom classes and partnering with Panera for a night, where a percentage of the proceeds go toward Miles' wish.

But teachers and staff have also upped the ante, offering up wild incentives for when the students reached their fundraising milestones.

"At $3,000 we have a teacher dying her hair purple. At $4,000 we had a teacher shave his signature mustache," Amy Nuzzarello, an advisor to the student council, explains. "And at $5,000 myself and the other counselors are going to jump in the pool in our clothes."

Nuzzarello says if they meet their $8,000 goal, Steve Lodes, the high school principal will get a tattoo of a panther, the school's mascot. But she and LaPointe agree, this Wish Week for Miles has been exciting and helped bring the school community together.

"It's been great this year, especially after COVID-19. People are just now starting to get involved. There's a new sense of togetherness that wasn't there in the past," LaPointe says.

If you'd like to help Miles' wish come true donate HERE.