Northwest’s Annual PINK DAY!

At Northwest High School, a sophomore looked over lunch choices of grilled chicken on pink linguine with a pink peppercorn Alfredo sauce, pink salmon patties with chipotle sauce and Thai chili chicken with pink rice.

It’s all part of the school’s annual Pink Day which started five years ago.  The event marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month and allows staff and students to honor those in their lives who have fought the disease.  This year in addition to the featured pink foods and students covering themselves in pink clothes and accessories, students wrote the names on cards and taped them to a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon painted on one of the cafeteria windows. They’ll stay up the rest of the month.

“This helps the kids see that a lot of people are affected by this, and it lets them honor the people they know who have dealt with it,” Tanner said.

Alex Anderson wouldn’t normally wear a pink sweatshirt anywhere, but the 17-year-old senior had no problem putting one on for Pink Day.

“My mom is a survivor,” he said. “This is a fun way to support breast cancer awareness.”

Patti Russell, Taher’s food service director at Northwest, said students also look forward to the pink food, especially the pink cake she always serves for dessert.

“I think we had more kids eat lunch today than we have in a long time,” Russell said.