Academic All-Star – Allendale Elementary

Published December 12, 2014

Eight year-old Rebecca Gardner is not only an inspiration to everyone at Allendale Elementary School, but to the community at large.

Despite being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in July, 2013, Rebecca has continued to approach her schoolwork with the same relentlessness as her fight against cancer.

It’s that “can’t quit” attitude that led the administrators and staff at Allendale to select Rebecca as the school’s Academic All-Star for the 2014-15 school year.

“Rebecca is a third grader who spent her whole second grade year home-bound,” said Allendale Principal Dr. Melonye Lowe. “She returned to school in September and still is receiving chemotherapy; however she’s really a trooper. She puts forth considerable effort every day just to be here, and she deserves to be recognized.”

Rebecca has attended Allendale since kindergarten and says her favorite subject is math. When she’s not in school, Rebecca enjoys playing with friends and making arts and crafts. She also likes spending time with her family which includes seven siblings.

In April, the Allendale PTO hosted a blood drive in Rebecca’s honor. Thanks to the incredible outpouring of support from the Allendale community, the American Red Cross collected twice as many units of blood as predicted. The blood drive was so successful; the PTO will host a second event this year.

In the meantime, Rebecca says she’ll keep working hard with the goal of one day helping others who share a similar story.

“I want to be a nurse when I grow up,” said Rebecca. “I want to help kids with cancer.”