Cora in the classroom

I started teaching this fall at our community college. The subject is human biology and I thought it was the perfect place to spread the word about CHD and Cora. I wrote a post a couple weeks ago about how I’m offering my students extra credit on the 30th of every month if they do 2 of these 3 things: 1) wear pink 2) tell someone about CHD and 3) do a random act of kindness.

On the 30th of August I only saw 2 of my 4 classes. If they participated in the extra credit, they had to write down what they did and turn it in. The response was huge. I walked in on Monday morning to a sea of pink, I loved it! I asked people to share their stories in class, too.

One student put a dollar in the pop machine for the next person to find. Another student had a pregnant friend who ended up giving birth two days after I told them Cora’s story–and because this student shared that information with her friend, that baby was tested. Another new mom down the hall from them at the hospital asked what the discussion was about and ended up getting her twins tested as well. I almost cried–how awesome is that?! All week long, more papers came in with great stories about acts of kindness and sharing stories.

One student has an etsy shop and said she contacted Kristine. Another student gave me a picture of him wearing his girlfriend’s pink polka-dot pants, holding a light fixture he bought for her because she had been wanting it (his act of kindness), AND she’s pregnant so they discussed CHD.

One student made his own pink shirt and wrote CHD on it.

Multiple students not only wore pink themselves, but also got their children or their siblings to also wear pink.

I am so touched and so amazed and how far this has spread. I can’t wait to hear more stories at the end of this month. Have I mentioned that I love my job?