“As soon as you hear the word ‘cancer,’ you’re just a mess,” said Isabella, a second grade teacher at M.J. Fletcher Elementary School. “You’re just in a fog and you just have so many questions about what to do and where to go.”

Nurse navigators at UPMC Chautauqua, specifically dedicated to breast cancer care, helped make her process simple: they scheduled Isabella’s appointments, prepared a binder with all of her pertinent information, and have been a “guiding light” for her through surgery and treatment.

Unbeknownst to Isabella, the navigators and care she received during her journey had been made possible through the work of one of her closest friends: retired Fletcher kindergarten teacher Anne Sischo, an nine-year breast cancer survivor and founder of the Shades of Pink Fund at the WCA Foundation.

Nine years after the “Fletcher family” rallied around Sischo, who retired in 2019, they came together on October 25 to rally around Isabella and other cancer survivors for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Students and staff raised $550 for Shades of Pink through the sale of pink ribbons that now appear in the Fletcher atrium and a “Hats Off for Cancer Survivors” day in which students and staff were able to wear a hat to school for a 50 cent donation. All proceeds will stay local.

Fletcher Elementary staff and students pose for a picture in pink during their “Hats off to Cancer Survivors” day on Oct. 25. Fletcher Elementary staff and students raised $550 to help support the Shades of Pink Fund at the WCA Foundation, created by retired teacher Anne Sischo and in honor of second grade teacher Teresa Isabella.

“When I was diagnosed, I didn’t know what to do next,” said Sischo, who created the fund nine years ago, not long after becoming a survivor. “I had a lady that helped me out so much during my journey and I thought that we needed something similar here in Jamestown. Our fund has also helped with getting people to come for mammograms — helping them to afford it – and equipment.”

Neither Isabella, nor others in the building had a true grasp of the impact of their former colleague’s fund.

“Anne and Teresa are like sisters, and for Teresa to get direct support from this fund that Anne started and not even know it – that’s who Anne is,” said Shannon Osborne, a colleague of Isabella’s who helped spearhead the Fletcher fundraiser through the building’s Spirit Committee. “Anne doesn’t shout from the rooftops. This support has been quietly given over the last nine years, and for one of her dearest friends to reap the benefits of that, is one of those beautiful moments in life that is so serendipitous. That’s why we chose Shades of Pink to be the beneficiary of this special fundraiser.”

“We’d always volunteered for the Shades of Pink golf tournament over the years and we knew what Anne was doing was important,” Isabella said, “But you just never know the impact of something like this until it’s you — and the navigators have been phenomenal throughout the process. I am so grateful for them.”

Now, on the other side of both of their diagnoses, Isabella and Sischo are grateful for the support they’ve both received. Now, they simply want to raise awareness for individuals to undergo an annual mammogram. Many employers, including JPS, will even provide four hours of paid leave for a cancer screening.

“You lean on people like Anne who have gone through it and you lean on the people who are around you,” Isabella said. “For me, it was my team here at school, because I kept pushing myself to go to work. I can’t tell you how loving and supportive my group was at school to make sure my class was all set.”

“You have to have support in your workplace and your family and your friends,” Sischo added. “This has always been a special building and I’m so touched they chose to help pay it forward in this way”

Added Isabella, “People were there for me, and now I want to be there for them.”