"Fighting for Kyle" Rally Ends "Kyle Week" at Elementary School in Emotional Way

On Friday, February 20, 2009, the last day of "Kyle Week" at the Elkhorn City Elementary School in Elkhorn City, KY. ended with a bang.

The school held "Kyle Week" in honor of Kyle Dean Smith, a 4th grade student of the school who has Acute Myeloid Monocytic Leukemia. The week's events included several ways that Smith's fellow students could show support for Smith and raise money to help find him a bone marrow donor to save his life. The students and faculty embraced the week with relish.

Friday was the climactic day. At 1:30 p.m. and continuing till the end of the school day, there was held a "Fighting For Kyle" Rally in the gym. The entire school attended on a voluntary basis. There were a couple "beauty" pageants in which boys dressed as girls and girls dressed as male escorts. One was for students and determined the Princess of the Cause. The second was for adult bus drivers and Councilman Mike Taylor and determined the Queen of the Cause.

The school sold special "Fighting For Kyle" t-shirts during the latter half of the week. This, added to the money raised by students buying "rights" to do things not normally allowed (such as wearing sunglasses, hats, and bringing electronics to school), totaled approximately $2,000 that was then deposited in an account set up to help pay for the processing of bone marrow tests to benefit Smith. (The t-shirts remain hugely popular throughout the community and are selling faster than they can be made.)

The afternoon's and week's activities ended on a very emotional note. Several students who had written parental permission walked out on the floor of the gym to have their heads shaved in front of the entire school to show support for Smith who is now bald due to aggressive chemotherapy treatments. Smith's family could not hold back their tears. The children who made this extraordinary gesture were:

Dalton Swindell, 2nd grade
John Wesley Justice, 6th grade
Cody Adams, 5th grade
Austin Staley, 3rd grade
John Casey, 8th grade

Also, Lexi Bell, in the 8th grade, had 11 inches of her hair cut off earlier that day in order to donate it to Locks of Love, in Smith's honor.

It was a tremendous week. The principal, Mr. Mercer, offered more support in any way that would be practical, including going to Smith in the hospital to keep his education up to par during this time. "People don't realise what a great community we have here." He said, "It is really special and I am proud to be a part of it."

A slideshow of photographs from "Kyle Week- 'Fighting For Kyle' Rally Day" will be posted in the next week or two on Associated Content.