Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an opportunity for communities to come together, show support, and bring attention to an important cause. At Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School, the school organized a Breast Cancer Awareness Block Party alongside a soccer game, bringing students and staff together for a day of school spirit and awareness. From the color guard opening the game to students participating in activities and spending time with friends, the event showed how a school community can support a cause while creating meaningful experiences together.
A Community Comes Together
Photo 1 : Gathering for a Cause
A gathering that created an opportunity to support breast cancer awareness outside the traditional classroom setting and invited those who once attended the same school yet never experienced the new events.
Photo 2 : Opening With Pride
Our Color Guard opened the soccer game, bringing not only a sense of tradition and school pride to the day. but, creating a moment that set the tone for an cause based event.
The Meaning Behind the Pink
Photo 3 : Messages of Hope
Words like hope, courage, love, and support reflected the purpose behind the block party. The awareness display encouraged participants to think about the cause beyond the color pink.
Photo 4 : Small Actions Yet Bigger Meanings
Through interactive activities, students had opportunities to contribute their own messages of encouragement and support. These individual contributions became part of a larger community effort.
Photo 5 : Picture a Cure
The handmade photo frame brought creativity into the awareness campaign, allowing students to celebrate their friendships while sharing a message of hope.
Photo 6 : Connections That Matter
Beyond the organized activities, the event created space for personal connections. Moments like these reflected the friendships that make a school community feel connected.
Celebrating Together
Photo 7 : A Community in Motion
While the soccer game brought an element of competition and school spirit, the surrounding activities gave students and staff another reason to come together. The day was as much about community participation as it was about the game itself.
Conclusion
The Breast Cancer Awareness Block Party at Edison showed how an everyday school event could become an opportunity to support something bigger. By combining a soccer game with awareness activities, the school created an environment where students and staff could participate, connect, and show their support. The photographs capture more than decorations and activities. Together, they tell the story of a school community using its spirit and creativity to bring attention to an important cause.
Photography and Storytelling Process
For this photoessay, I wanted to capture the different ways the Edison community came together for breast cancer awareness. Rather than focusing only on posed photographs, I selected images that showed the overall event, student participation, and smaller moments of connection. Shurbaji (2014) explains that photo essays use a collection of images connected by a common theme to communicate a larger story. I kept this in mind when organizing the photographs, starting with the larger gathering before moving into the activities and interactions.
I also considered how the images and captions would work together. García (2017) emphasizes the importance of combining writing, editing, and design in visual storytelling. With that in mind, I used the captions to provide context and connect each photograph to the event’s overall message rather than simply describing what was visible. My goal was to show how a school event could bring people together while raising awareness for an important cause.
References
García, M. R. (2017, January 19). Digital storytelling, part one: The fusion of writing/editing/design. García Media. https://garciamedia.com/blog/digital_storytelling_part_one_the_fusion_of_writing_editing_design/ (Mod 5)
Shurbaji, E. (2014, December 17). Photo narratives: Defining picture stories, essays and packages. Ideas: Journalism + Tech. https://medium.com/learning-journalism-tech/photo-narratives-d77b812f99dd (Mod 5)
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