By Mark Esper
SEQUIM — The official colors of Sequim Middle School may be teal and black, but the school was all in pink on Tuesday.
Students and faculty at the school donned pink garb to show support for art teacher Martha Rudersdorf, 50, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in October and is scheduled for surgery at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle on Friday.
Pink is the official color for breast cancer awareness and almost 270,000 women annually in the United States are diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
Rudersdorf has taught in Sequim schools for the past 17 years.
She said she was touched by the gesture, which included an assembly Tuesday morning in her honor.
“A lot of the kids came in and showed me their pink outfits,” Rudersdorf said Tuesday afternoon.
“Kids I don’t even know or teach have been greeting me all day, giving me notes and showing me their pink.”
Eighth-grader Hailey Humber of Sequim said she will miss Rudersdorf, who plans to return to her teaching duties after the winter break.
“I fixed one of my shirts to wear today,” Humber said.
She also donned pink sneakers for the occasion.
“She’s one of my favorite teachers,” Humber said.
“I wish it wouldn’t have happened. I wish she wouldn’t have gotten breast cancer.”