JH Principal goes pink in student's cancer fight

Pink is not one of the favorite colors of Derek Smith, principal at Jackson Heights Middle and High School.

But after students at JHHS threw down the gauntlet and challenged Smith to “go pink” in honor of a JHHS graduate who’s currently fighting cancer, he agreed to have his hair and beard colored pink as a show of support for that Cobra alumna.

“This one is for Sky,” Smith said of the fund-raising efforts for Skyler Mann, who graduated from JHHS in 2023, at the end of Smith’s first year as principal.

Mann was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year, according to current JHHS senior Emirson Fritz, who challenged Smith to “go pink” as a fund-raising effort for Mann.

“Skyler was a member of my cross-country team when she was in high school. We became good friends, and she became almost family to me,” Fritz said. “One night, my mom told me that Sky had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and this is when the whole bet came to be.”

Smith made good on the bet, and at the home football game between the Cobras and Valley Falls last Friday, Oct. 18, he premiered his new look, a “permanent” pink beard and hair that Fritz and JHHS sophomore Lakota Bottom took part in dyeing earlier that day.

“A lot of people made a deal of me doing it,” Smith said. “However, the cause made the choice to go pink an easy one.”

During a homecoming week bonfire on Thursday, Oct. 3, Fritz asked Smith how much money students and Cobra supporters would have to raise in order to have Smith color his beard pink and wear a pink kilt, the traditional Scottish formal outfit that Smith has been seen wearing at certain JHHS events, for “Pink Out” night. Smith’s immediate response: $1,000.

“And with that, a bet was made,” Smith said.

The next day, Fritz reported to Smith that the “Bash Cancer” event and the lemonade stand raised a total of $327, then asked Smith if he would be willing to lower the price on coloring his beard. Smith denied Fritz’s request, then put the challenge out to “Cobra Nation” to help raise funds for Mann.

“One of our own is hurting and needs our help,” Smith said. “We aren’t a community. We are a family.”

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