Dressed in costumes, St. Patrick School students do the 2012 diabetes walk. (Photo courtesy of JDRF Hawaii)
St. Patrick School teacher Paul Stone says that one out of 300 people have Type 1 diabetes. His school has 315 students. His daughter Katie is one out of 300.
Actually, said principal Sacred Hearts Sister Anne Clare De Costa, St. Patrick also has other students with Type 1.
Nevertheless, they are not alone. The other 300-plus students have rallied to their support and the support of others in the community who share their particular challenge.
Since 2007, the school has sponsored a student, parent and faculty walk to raise money and awareness to battle this disease. To date, the event, a benefit for the Hawaii chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), has collected more then $25,000.
It was Stone who got the ball rolling six years ago after Katie was diagnosed with Type 1 on Aug. 8, 2007, at the unusually young age of two-and-a-half. Stone organized the first school event three months later, tying it in with United Nation’s World Diabetes Day Nov. 14.
“The school’s reaction was positive from the start,” Stone told the Hawaii Catholic Herald by email. “At first it was my enthusiasm that helped drive the event. Now it is a part of our school’s culture.”
“It is a big deal for the school,” said Sister Anne Clare.
Like previous years, the walk is scheduled for Oct. 31, Halloween day. It starts after lunch. Students and teachers, dressed in costumes, walk around the large Kaimuki block that surrounds the school and church. The little kids walk about half the block and the older students go around a couple times depending on the weather.
The walk takes about 20 minutes and is followed by Halloween class activities for the younger grades and a school dance for the fifth through eighth grades.
“Having my daughter in the school gives students the ability to see that diabetics are just like everyone else, just with a few medical needs,” he said. “She eats with her peers and plays at recess and PE, like everyone else. Her classmates know that she goes to the office to check her blood sugar and that she sometimes has to drink juice for her condition.”
Stone, who has taught at St. Patrick School in Kaimuki for 16 years, said that, as a result of the annual event, the students there understand diabetes “better than most.”
“We use the week before to educate our students and their families about the disease and what it means,” he said.
That effort includes dispelling misconceptions. One does not get it from eating too much sugar; it is not contagious; and it is not the same as Type 2 diabetes, a similar, more common, but generally less severe illness.
The school combined the diabetes walk with Halloween for a variety of reasons, the obvious one being that the students are already focused on consuming a lot of sugar that day.
It’s a natural opportunity to explore healthier choices in food and activities, Stone said.
“We like to remind students to be conscious of how blessed they are with what they have and to remember those who are less fortunate,” said Stone, who is St. Patrick School’s dean of students and systems administrator and who also teaches social studies and religion. He and his wife Allison have a second child, Tommy, at the school.
St. Patrick raised $1,000 that first year and the money has increased annually. Last year it raised $9,000.
Quarterback Jay Cutler, Katie Stone. (Photo courtesy of Paul Stone)
About four years ago, Stone gave the walk a “sports/football” theme after Chicago Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler, a Type 1 diabetic, came to town for the ProBowl and met with kids from JDRF.
“Katie was very excited to meet him and continues to cheer for him,” Stone said.
Adopting the motto, “Together we can tackle diabetes,” Stone solicited donations and support from NFL teams, which has become a source of prizes for the walk’s top fundraisers.
Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the body’s immune system goes awry and destroys cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food.
With the body unable to make insulin, diabetics have to rely on insulin injections or pumps for the rest of their lives. Type 1 carries the constant threat of complications, which can be devastating.
The disease cannot be prevented and currently there is no cure. It strikes suddenly, both children and adults, at any age.
Gail Chew, executive director of JDRF Hawaii calls St. Patrick School’s fundraising and educational effort “inspiring.”
“JDRF Hawaii is extremely grateful to Paul, Katie and the entire St. Patrick School ohana,” she said. “Not only are the funds they raise impactful in our efforts to fund research, but their compassionate generosity is truly an example for all of us.”
Stone welcomes any support for the school diabetes walk, either through a simple contribution, by sponsoring a student-walker or by donating NFL-related merchandise. He said the school is trying to break the $10,000 mark this year. Those interested may call St. Patrick School at 734-8979.
