What an amazing week it was as our Memorial family came together for the 11th Annual SamStrong football game! Memorial recognized that they now have a generation of students who might not be familiar with Sam’s story, so they invited us to speak to the student body on Wednesday. We shared Sam’s story of persevering through adversity and of the tremendous support Sam received. Aaron Schmitt, Principal at Memorial and formerly one of Sam’s teachers, and Coy Hobson, a teacher at Memorial and formerly one of Sam’s classmates, also shared memories of Sam. Students spoke with us after our speech and again at the football game, saying how touched and inspired they were to hear Sam’s story.
We introduced a new SamStrong t-shirt design this year, returning to the original black shirts but with two of Sam’s drawings prominently featured, and were they a hit! The initial batch we took to school sold out immediately, and we had to take a second batch into school for game day. The students were allowed to wear the shirts on Friday, and the pictures of school mass showed an ocean of SamStrong shirts!
Preparation for the game included lunch at Donato’s, which designated the day as Dough-Nation Day for SamStrong, with 20% of sales donated to SamStrong’s fight against childhood cancer.
Game time arrived, and though temperatures were in the 90s, the turnout was amazing! As the stadium filled up, current students spoke with us of the impact of hearing Sam’s story. One mom came up to us and said her son came home and just had to tell her about what he heard at school that day. Former students shared their memories of the day Sam spoke to the student body in 2012 and how it inspired them to enter the medical field. We spoke with the parents of Jessica Mueller, the 2017 recipient of the Sam Featherstone Memorial Scholarship. Jessica is now a dietician at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, which is closely affiliated with St. Jude and where Sam had two surgeries. Many of Sam’s teachers shared their memories of Sam. Matt Collins, Sam’s PE teacher, shared the log book Sam used for the exercise plan they developed after Mr. Collins reached out to Sam’s oncologist and physical therapists. We laughed with Mr. Schmitt about the times when he would have Sam on speakerphone during class so Sam could participate while living at St. Jude. Through all the stories and all the laughter and all the tears, Sam’s legacy lives on!
And what a game! Congratulations to the Tigers, who defeated Evansville North 17-0.
We are so very thankful to our Memorial family for their continued support of Sam’s legacy. President Christian Mocek, Principal Aaron Schmitt, Athletic Director Chad Dockery, Head Football Coach John Hurley, and the entire administrative staff and faculty. They are making a difference for our family and are showing the students the importance of being a loving community with a focus on service to others.