Bravo to the graduating seniors at New Hampshire’s Profile Junior-Senior High School for paying it forward! Rather than bond with pals during a four-day, rite-of-passage getaway at Ridin-Hy Ranch in New York, students in Bethlehem, N.H., unanimously voted to donate the money they put toward their class trip — $8,000! — to sick principal Courtney Vashaw, who was recently diagnosed with cancer.
“Every one of us has a connection with her, and she has given so much to us that we just wanted to give back,” Christopher Sirois, the senior class president, told local news outlet WMUR of the group’s generous gift.
The class’ donation came one week after Vashaw opened up about her rare and aggressive diagnosis of soft-tissue cancer. “It is very hard for me to accept help, and I have no idea what to say to you,” the principal, fighting back tears, told her beloved students, whom she called “[a] pretty remarkable, fun, astonishing group of people.”
Profile’s seniors will still enjoy their class trip, but will travel locally in order to keep costs down. WMUR also reports that the students are hard at work brainstorming their next fundraiser for Vashaw.