It was a class act in every sense: High school seniors in New Hampshire canceled their long-planned class trip so they could give the money to their principal.
The seniors of Profile Junior-Senior High School in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, donated nearly $8,000 to Courtney Vashaw, who is battling synovial sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer.
"I was just absolutely floored," Vashaw told the New York Daily News. "I feel so honored, so touched. It's absolutely astounding."
The students had spent four years raising the money, and were planning a four-day trip to the Ridin-Hy Adirondack Ranch Resort in upstate New York. But when the principal revealed earlier this month that she was battling cancer, they voted unanimously to cancel the trip and give her the money instead.
“Every one of us has a connection with her, and she has given so much to us that we just wanted to give back,” Christopher Sirois, senior class president, told WMUR.
“She's just very caring, very selfless, and we wanted to be selfless, too,” senior class treasurer Ian Baker told the station.
Update: A Crowdrise fund has been set up to send the students on their class trip. To donate, click the widget below. Story continues underneath.
The students say they will still take a trip, but it will be a local one rather than an overnighter to New York. And they're not done giving yet; they're also planning a vintage car rally set to be held this summer as a fundraiser for the principal.
"I will never be able to pay them back," Vashaw told "Today." "But it is my full intent to pay it forward."
