School Takes On Ring Of Fire Challenge For Officer's Daughter
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – Teachers at Black Forest Hills Elementary were the latest group to take Aurora Police's Ring of Fire Challenge on Monday to support the daughter of one of their officers who is fighting cancer.
The Ring of Fire Challenge started earlier this year as a way to raise awareness for Tayler Ellison, 13, and her fight against bone cancer.
"This is home to the Ellisons," said Ofc. Thomas Faustin, one of the creators of the challenge. "Tayler used to go here. Her brothers go here. This is an extension of their family."
Ellison has already faced cancer and beat it while at such a young age. The campaign hopes to be a fundraiser for the family and cheer up the teenager as she continues treatment.
Participants are asked to either eat a habañero pepper or try to finish three donuts in a one minute. So far the challenge has primarily involved members of law enforcement or public safety, but the staff at Ellison' former elementary school also wanted to show their support.
"The community that we have here, it was really fun to bring all the teachers together," said Jeff Gleason, the music teacher at Black Forest Hills.
More than a dozen teachers and staff members at the school gathered on stage at an assembly with the whole school watching them. Students also helped with their own challenge for the family.
Gleason agreed to shave his head if the school raised $1,800. He offered to donate his hair to a charity that makes wigs, the same nonprofit that made one for Ellison after she started her treatment.
"The first and only thing she was scared of was that she was going to lose all of her hair," Gleason said Ellison's mother told him. "I've been growing my hair for about five years."
The school raised almost $3,000 as part of their own challenge and watched a hair stylist remove locks of his hair for the charity and then Ellison's dad shave Gleason's head. The haircut happened just minutes after he completed the Ring of Fire Challenge opting to eat a pepper.
"For the habañero itself, it was really hot and a good 30 minutes of me questioning whether I was going to make it," said Gleason.
Shane Ellison is an officer for Aurora police and told CBS4 it was a mix of emotions to see the school come together for his daughter. A moment of joy lost in the middle of the ongoing fight his daughter has undertaken for years.
"We've known Mr. Gleason for a lot of years and to actually be able to shave his head was not only a lot of fun, but it was tough," said Ellison.
His daughter was there to watch it all happen and spoke to CBS4 after the assembly. She wanted to say "thank you" to everyone for their encouragement. Her father wanted to pass along the same gratitude.
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"Thank you to everybody, the continued support is more than we could have ever asked for or ever hoped for," said Shane.
LINKS: Ring Of Fire Challenge Facebook Page | Tayler Ellison Fundraising Page
Shawn Chitnis reports for CBS4 News at 10 on weekends and CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. throughout the week. Email him story ideas at smchitnis@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.
