By Cheri Perkins Mantz, Catholic Herald Staff

When Laurie Merk was diagnosed with breast cancer, she knew she had few options. She chose to get treatment and to continue teaching second grade at St. Roman School, Milwaukee.

“I look at these little faces and I think, ‘I have so much to share with you. I can’t do it sitting on my couch feeling sorry for myself,’” she said. “I have the first Communion class and there’s no way I can not see them through this year and not see them have their first Communion.”

The students at St. Roman, whom Merk said have been her biggest inspiration, took part in an event Sept. 21 where they each paid $1 to “dress down” in pink and white clothing. The school also took part in their own breast cancer walk around campus.

Sept. 21 was a significant date for Merk, 49. It is the day she began her chemotherapy treatments. After the bell rang for the day, she left the school and went to her first treatment. She said the support of the faculty, parents and students at St. Roman are what got her through her treatment.

“I couldn’t believe the amount of love and support in the building,” she said. “The faculty, parents, children, they’re so strong that I can’t do anything but get well.”

Cheryl Sanford, principal at St. Roman, said the school holds a dress down day every year and donates the proceeds to breast cancer research. The school is no stranger to breast cancer as a former principal and current administrative assistant have been diagnosed with breast cancer; they also lost a former teacher to it.

“We set the date of our annual dress down day and we started focusing on Mrs. Merk because everyone loves her,” said Sanford. “The spirit just guided us. This is how you teach children — with a concrete example in front of them. We thought it was a good idea to incorporate a walk for Laurie.

“For the second grade children, it was a tangible way to support their teacher,” said Sanford. “And it was totally embraced by the whole school community.”

Sanford also feels students can grow and learn by having a beloved teacher deal with an illness that may be foreign and scary to them.

“Because we had Laurie in our midst and she’s a real person with a real problem, especially with small children, it’s a way for them to show real support to someone they know they can touch and they’re not afraid of,” said Sanford “It’s a tangible life lesson. We’re not celebrating her cancer, but we’re using it as a life lesson and a teachable moment. We’re showing the students works of mercy; you support the sick and care for them. It’s a way to show their Catholic faith and Catholic identity.”

Having taught at St. Roman for 12 years, Merk said she has had just about every one of the school’s current students in class. After her first treatment, she took off Friday and Monday, but couldn’t wait to get back to class.

“My oncologist said I should take the day off after treatment, but other than that, I’m planning on working,” she said. “I enjoy my job so much I couldn’t see myself sitting home and doing nothing.

“When I began treatment, they asked if I had joined the American Cancer Society support group and I said no because every day when I walk into my school, I have people who love and support me.”

Merk said that when she watched the students, faculty and even some students’ parents and grandparents walk on her first day of treatment, she was speechless. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “They all put my name on tags on their shirts. I don’t even know the words to say how I felt.”

With 305 students, Merk assumed they’d raise about $300. When she realized the total, she had to fight back tears.

“Thirteen hundred dollars and it’s still coming in,” she said, clearly shocked. “Some families even donated $50. There’s been a lot of support from parents.”

The children understand that Merk has cancer and will lose her hair. The process of preparing 7 and 8 year olds for that news was one that Merk and Sanford discussed with parents.

“We asked for (parents’) input on how to handle this with the kids, and we decided it would be best if the parents talked to their kids about it and later that week, we addressed it during religion class,” said Merk. “I talked about God’s prayer and healing.”

Despite her illness, Merk, a wife and mother of two teenage sons, is thankful.

“If I didn’t have a job like this and I was going through all this yucky stuff, I don’t know if I could do it,” she said. “There’s always something new here in class. Something that cracks you up, makes you cry or makes you happy.”

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