Johnston schools go purple for pancreatic cancer

PURPLE PEOPLE: These are members of Miss Mitchell’s second grade class at Winsor Hill School who took part in Friday’s National Purple Out Day. (Submitted photos by Gina Schino)

PURPLE PALS: Winsor Hill students came to school Friday dressed in purple to raise awareness and remember their friend Jason Schino’s who lost his battle in 2014.

FARONE’S FORCE: Ms. Farone’s fourth grade class at Winsor Hill Elementary School was a sea of purple for Friday’s National Purple Out Day that helped raise awareness to the dreaded disease known as Pancreatic Cancer.

Posted Friday, November 24, 2017 1:21 pm

By Pete Fontaine

To say that Johnston Public Schools painted the town purple Friday would be an understatement.

“Thank you to the Johnston School administration, faculty and students for participating in Purple Out Day and for raising awareness of this deadly disease and donating to fight Pancreatic Cancer,” Gina Schino said. “Together, we raised over $2,100!”

Schino, who is the tireless volunteer leader of the Winsor Hill Elementary School PTO (Parent Teacher Organization), said, “People in the Johnston School District wore purple with a purpose, to raise awareness of Pancreatic Cancer. “It was a sea of purple throughout our schools.”

Those Johnston schools that were decorated with a variety of purple items Friday – as well as their respective students – were: the Early Childhood Center, Sara Dyer Barnes, Brown Avenue, Thornton, Winsor Hill Elementary and Ferri Middle School.

Schino also announced that the $2,100 collection will increase after Johnston High School holds a “Dress Down Day” that will also benefit the cause.

“This was such an overwhelming show of support and love to honor those currently fighting the disease and remember those who have lost their battle to Pancreatic Cancer,” Schino said. “Pancreatic Cancer takes 91 percent of its victims within five years and kills more people than breast cancer in the United States.”

Schino knows all too well the effects of Pancreatic Cancer; the disease took the life of her late father George Brown in 2014.

The disease, she pointed out, is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths and it is projected to become the second by 2020. More than 53,000 Americans will be diagnosed with the season in 2017. That’s more than 145 mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, sisters, brothers and colleagues or friend who will hear the dreaded news every day.

“Pancreatic Cancer patients deserve better treatments and outcomes,” Schino said. “Outcomes won’t improve without a greater treatment in research and research cannot advance without a strong scientific community pioneering breakthroughs. A community for progress will not fro without elevating national awareness of the cause. And that’s where the administration, faculty and students of Johnston schools take action.”

Schino said those who’d like more information concerning Pancreatic Cancer should call the Action Network Patient Services at 877-409-0817 to learn about its many different services.