PHOTO: Color guard students from Page High School support coach Jessie Price in her fight against breast cancer./SUBMITTED
By BROOKE WANSER
After experiencing symptoms for the past year, Jessie Price, a color guard director at Fred J. Page High School, was diagnosed with breast cancer in September.
Price, who is in her 19th year of performing and teaching color guard, also coaches the color guard team at White House.
She has completed her first round of chemotherapy, and will undergo three more rounds before surgery in January.
Friends and family have set up a “Striking out Cancer” fundraiser at Thunder Alley Family Entertainment Center in Dickson on Sunday to help Price cover the cost of treatment.
The center has bowling, a laser maze, go karts and an arcade, and the event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m.
Support system
Price says she will fight the disease with the help of her family, including husband Nick, nearly three-year-old daughter, Berkley, and her ten-year-old nephew Breylen.
With long, curly hair, Breylen volunteered to chop off his hair for a wig for “Aunt Pudding” [his nickname for Price] as soon as he heard about her diagnosis.
“He said, ‘No one with cancer deserves to be bullied for not having hair,’” Price said.
In addition to her family’s support, Price finds support in the students she coaches.
As a dance major in college, “Performing really changed my life,” she said.
Continuing on as a coach allows her to reach kids at their level.
“Too often, they don’t have outlets for their own stress and anxieties and fears,” Price said. “I try to use it [color guard] to provide them with life lessons.”
When she told the students of her diagnosis, Price said they were understandably upset, but she was overwhelmed by their encouragement.
At White House High School, the color guard team gets new gear each year. This fall, they got pink duffel bags with the breast cancer ribbon in support of Price.
Price said parents from both schools had set up a meal train online, where her family receives meals every two days. Other parents set up a Home Chef account with funds for Price.
A coach’s influence
A competitive and critical sport, Page High senior and color guard leader Christine Hill says Price has encouraged her not to be too hard on herself.
“She taught me it’s ok to be wrong, and that I can use that to get better,” Hill said of Price, who came to the program three seasons ago.
When Page’s color guard team moved up to a higher division, Hill said some students were disappointed, having been accustomed to winning trophies and placing at competitions.
But Hill said Price saw the division change as an opportunity.
“She walked in having really high expectations for us, and she never really let those drop,” Hill said. “She has an amazing way of always staying optimistic.”
Price will use that optimism to continue fighting cancer.
“My family, my child, my students, that’s really where my inspiration comes from,” she said.
“They need me just as much as I need them. There’s really no other option but to survive.”
Find event information on Facebook here, and a GoFundMe page here.