As the popular song “Watch Me” by Silento was at
its height, known for its soleful beats that makes you want to move your feet
and just hit the whip, it became an icon for Pediatric Cancer. It became
known as the “Whip Challenge for Pediatric Cancer” as people would challenge
each other to hit “the whip” on video to show awareness for Pediatric Cancer.
In October, Dalers showed their awareness for
Pediatric Cancer with a community whip, hitting the whip at Pep-Rally and the
mini-fair, S.M.I.L.E club, faculty, Playcrafters, Mr. Zakian along with Mrs.
DePierro and Mrs. Martinez, class of 2016 group pictures, and the band and
Dalerettes hitting the whip at a home band camp. We were challenged by
Northside Elementary School who was challenged by Albany Avenue. After we
accomplished the challenge, we went on to challenge Herricks High School and
Jericho High School.
In the video, now on Youtube, there is a fade
into our beloved mascot who draws the first whip which sets tone for the rest
of the video as this whip has been called “straight fire.” Later, the
stanky leg comes into play which is mastered by our own Principal Zakian. He
adds the smoothness that is a necessity to “Watch Me” and is what most people
are missing when trying to do the stanky leg.
Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death
in children, with every 285 children, one child will be diagnosed with cancer
and 15,780 kids diagnosed with cancer everyday. Cancer is the number one
cause of death in children. Many people do not realize that cancer
effects that many children and is a problem in the United States. That is why
it is important for the whip challenge to raise awareness to people of every
age to know that Pediatric Cancer is a problem and show children with cancer
that they are not alone.
~ Brittany Genzmann
