Vienna High School holds Pink Out for Bella to show community support

VIENNA, Ill. (KBSI) — Students and staff at Vienna High School wore pink Tuesday and gathered for a lunchtime prayer circle to support Bella Fasolo, a Pope County High School graduate undergoing cancer treatment.

Vienna joined other schools across Southern Illinois in the Pink Out Day, an effort to show Bella and her family they are not alone.

Phillip Hosfeldt, Dean of System Programs at Vienna High School, said he taught Bella several years ago while working in Pope County. Bella graduated from Pope County High School and now plays college softball.

During the prayer circle, several students and staff members shared prayers for Bella. Hosfeldt said seeing students support someone outside their own school has been inspiring.

“I’m incredibly blessed and privileged that we get to be here at the school and just have such a student population that really does care not just about the students that are here, but really just anyone that’s their peers across this region,” he said.

Vienna sophomore Josiah Crim attended Pope County Elementary School with Bella before transferring to Vienna. He said it was meaningful to see neighboring schools come together to support her.

“It’s nice seeing them kind of come together and do this thing for Bella, do this thing for another school, even just kind of like unite in a way against something that can harm others,” Crim said.

Junior Olivia Quertermous knows of Bella through softball. Although the two did not know each other personally, Quertermous said Bella made a good impression on her.

“I knew her through sports and knew that she was a very good softball player and very well rounded in her sports,” Quertermous said. “But outside of that, I knew that she was just an all-around great person from things I had heard from other people.”

Students wore pink because it is a color Bella loves, Quertermous said. She said the gesture becomes more powerful when schools across the region participate.

“We’re just wearing pink and kind of showing our support because she loves the color pink. But I feel like those small acts really add up whenever it’s in numbers like this,” she said.

The show of support also comes as the Vienna school community rallies around one of its own. Quertermous said a Vienna sophomore was recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.

“So we kind of understand a little bit what the family’s going through and what the Pope County community is going through right now,” Quertermous said. “I feel like it’s extra special that we get to show our support to another community struggling the same as we are.”

Crim, who is a classmate of the Vienna student, said it means a lot to see the school support both him and Bella.

“So seeing the school and everything help another student as well as one of their own, try to help, like, fight through that. It’s a really nice gesture,” Crim said. “It makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger.”

Hosfeldt said Vienna’s student council is selling Squishmallows throughout the week, with proceeds going to Bella’s family. The school also plans to continue looking for ways to support her.

He hopes Bella and her family know the community is behind them.

“That they’re not alone, that we are all in this together,” Hosfeldt said. “Despite the fact that we can’t be with her physically, that they know that we are here supporting her and lifting her up.”

Crim also offered a message to his former schoolmate: “Just keep fighting and it’ll only go up.”