![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
In the last seven years, my life has been a little difficult, but I’ve dealt with it better than a lot of people think. I’ve dealt with my mother passing away, my father going to prison, having to move schools a couple times and explain my story to a lot of people who have walked out of my life over and over again. The one that hurt me the most was my mother’s death.
On Mother’s Day in 2015 my mother, Laura Cayton, found out she had stage 4 breast cancer. I lived with my dad, Jason Shook, at the time so when we got the call that we needed to go Mercy hospital and I remember bringing her a flower I had made in school not knowing something horrible was soon going to happen with my mom. I was going to the Wentzville School District. When we got to the hospital, I thought she looked fine, but I soon realized that wasn’t the case. She told us she had stage 4 cancer. I was 8 and I didn’t understand what cancer was or death. It’s kind of a blur for a year or so but she went through radiation, chemo, and PET (positron emission tomography) scans. PET scans are used to help diagnose some conditions including cancer. It can also help to find out where and whether cancer has spread. After her chemo sessions she would be fine the next day, cleaning the whole house and then get really sick and wouldn’t get out of bed for days on end. I remember going to one for the chemo sessions. It was me and my sister, Mariah Shook. It felt like we were there for hours on end. I felt tired, upset, confused, and lost because I was still a child and didn’t understand anything that was going on. I just wanted to be with my mom.
In 2017, I moved in with my aunt, Leah Hug, for a couple years because my father hung around the wrong people and drugs took over my father and my mom was getting worse. By this time, the cancer had spread to her lungs, brain, bones and liver. She had 11 brain tumors and started losing her memory. She was falling a couple times and couldn’t remember when or where she even fell. By 2019, she couldn’t talk, walk, go to the bathroom on her own, eat, drink or even lift a finger. I remember the night before she passed. I refused to sleep in the room she was sleeping in because I was terrified she was going to pass away overnight. I could hear everything in her throat, she looks miserable. We all went to sleep, and the next morning of April 7, 2019 around 10:38 a.m. Laura passed. Her funeral wasn’t until April 22, 2019 and then my father went to prison in May.
Today on Oct. 24, I write this for children and everyone who has a parent or anyone they know that has cancer or an illness. I know the pain and heartache you feel, you and I feel alone, depressed, like a part of your heart is gone. I feel sadness everyday, but I’m living for her and to make her proud even though I can’t see her smile and hear her tell me she’s proud. If I could have one last thing from my mother, it would be one last hug and to hear her tell me she loves me. Everyone who is reading this, you are not alone. You have people, you just have to reach out and explain your emotions. People will help and care for you. Stay strong for yourself and those who love you, and those who you love.
This story was originally published on LHStoday on October 24, 2022.
