Community Corner

Celebrating Good Citizenship with a 'Purple Kind Of Style' (Video)

Hatton Elementary School Principal Roberta McAloon and physical education teacher Marcia Phelps rewarded their students for raising more than $7,000 for heart disease research with a special assembly Wednesday - and each took on a new look.

Robby Pechillo is one of thousands of American children suffering from Pulmonary Valve Stenosis, a disease that has left him without a working valve in his heart.

The condition is difficult to live through but there is hope for Robby, 6, and others like him as students at are doing their part to help out – and forcing the staff to take on an interesting new style in the process.

The school’s annual fundraiser, , raised $7,017 for heart disease research in 2012 and as part of an agreement with school staff, it left Hatton Principal Roberta McAloon and physical education teacher Marcia Phelps with a “new look” that energized the students – a spray-painted purple hair-do.

Yes, you read that right. Purple hair. 

“This is a fundraiser we had been doing for several years now, but the students really stepped it up last year and we wanted to encourage them to take it a step further,” said McAloon, who will retire at the end of the school year. “When you see how excited the kids get, and how much they do to help their fellow classmates, something like this is totally worth it.”

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McAloon and Phelps challenged the students earlier this year to raise “at least $6,000” for the annual spring event, promising a school-wide assembly where they would have their hair spray-painted purple. When the students surpassed their goal, they were left with no other options.

The fundraiser is just one of several done by the school, an effort that McAloon and Leigh Pechillo said helps support the concept of promoting good citizenship and being active members in the community. The school also celebrated a second fundraising effort that helped raise money for books in the library – a celebration that ended with the top class, Rachel Evenski’s students, spraying McAloon and Phelps with silly string.

for more on the hair coloring – also check out the video of McAloon and Phelps being sprayed with silly string later in the day.

“It’s something we try to teach from a young age and to instill in our students,” McAloon said.

Leigh Pechillo said that for her family and especially for her son, Robby, the support shown by the school has been overwhelming. Students raised $5,144 in 2011 and $7,017 in 2012.

The increase was due in large part to the contest, but it was the students who took control and made the project their own. The second-grade classes alone raised $2,859 as students of Jason Thompson, Patricia DeBisschop and Elizabeth Scaleese’s classes took honors as top fundraisers.

Allie Pechillo, 8, said she was surprised, but happy by just how much her fellow students reached out and were able to make for her brother. She said the support “makes our family feel good,” and gives them hope that her brother will live a long life.

Robby Pechillo was all smiles as he watched the events unfold on Wednesday and said he is looking forward to something similar next year.

“This is fun and it helps me and others with heart disease too,” he said.

The following students were honored for being the top fundraisers individually:

5. Cade LaChance, Elaine Meccarielo’s class, $173.
4. Olivia Barbosa, Jason Thompson’s class, $175.
3. Nick Breutzman, Rachel Evenski’s class, $250.
2. Matthew Rodriguez, Patricia DeBisschop’s class, $700.
1. Allie Pechillo, Elizabeth Scaleese’s class, $1,080.


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