Shady Side Academy joined the fight against childhood cancer by participating in Wear a Hat for Cancer Day on Friday, Oct. 7, raising a total of $1,282 to benefit the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and the Division of Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

For a $2 donation, students, faculty and staff at all three SSA campuses were permitted to wear a hat to school on Oct. 7. The Junior School (grades PK-5) raised at total of $535, the Middle School (grades 6-8) raised $585, and the Senior School (grades 9-12) raised $162.

SSA alumna Samantha Goodman '13, a childhood cancer survivor, helped to establish the first Wear a Hat for Cancer Day in 2011, which has grown to become an annual events that includes schools and businesses across the Western Pennsylvania region.