WHS Class of 2021 taking up fight against ALS

T-shirt sales, student-faculty softball game among fund-raisers leading to ALS Awareness Day

T-shirts are being sold by the Watertown High Class of 2021 to fight ALS.

T-shirts are being sold by the Watertown High Class of 2021 to fight ALS.

Carolina Pesqueira, Raider Times staff

Watertown High teachers Erin McGovern and Teresa Malone, and the Class of 2021 are working together to fight the horrible disease known as ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The group is promoting ALS Awareness Day at Watertown High on May 22, as May is ALS Awareness Month.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a disease in the nervous system that weakens muscles and affects physical function. Ms. McGovern has herself experienced the horrible effects that ALS can have in a loved one. Her godmother was 60 years of age when she died in September, a year after being diagnosed.

“It really is very painful to watch someone lose the ability to move, to speak, and it takes the personality away,” Ms. McGovern said.

Ms. McGovern announced that there are ALS awareness T-shirts can be ordered during all three lunches for $10 each through Friday, May 11. There will also be a teacher-student charity softball game on May 17 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Filippello Park.

All money raised from donations and events will be sent to the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Conn., which specializes in fighting ALS.

(To donate, order shirts, or for more information, please contact Erin McGovern at [email protected].)

–May 10, 2018–