LaFayette High celebrates successful Operation Wipeout

BY KADIE TAYLOR

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

LAFAYETTE — Community members, school administration, local leaders and students gathered at LaFayette High School on Thursday, April 30 to celebrate the success of the school’s Operation Wipeout program. 

Chambers County Schools Superintendent Dr. Sharon Weldon encouraged students and congratulated them on their hard work and the change they are making in their own lives and the lives of others in the community through sharing the message of Operation Wipeout. 

“I want to point out something really awesome about what we’re doing today, because I want you to know this is about students,” she said. “This is about what students have done, the program that the students have put together and how far they’ve gone in those things that they’ve accomplished. The most important thing, and this is what I said all along when we were talking about this, is not what has been accomplished, but it is the lesson that each one of you guys who are here has that potential [to make a difference]. You have that power. You can do those things that other people might not think you can do, things they don’t think you can accomplish, you can do those things. So, as we’re recognizing people, I want you to know that what we’re recognizing is the hard work of a whole lot of students who have been inspired to make a change and make an impact.”

Dr. Isabel Scarinci from the University of Alabama in Birmingham said Operation Wipeout began in Chambers County because it has high recorded rates of cervical cancer, a cancer preventable through receiving the HPV vaccine. The success is the result of a group of LaFayette High students, who she said took on the mission to help spread the word to encourage others to get the HPV vaccination. 

“I do not know of another school in the entire United States that has achieved this, over 80% of you got the HPV vaccine, I want to congratulate you and I want to congratulate the work [of these students] who worked very hard to promote awareness.”

President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama Tim Vines visited his alma mater, LaFayette High, as the keynote speaker for the event and congratulated the students on their efforts and the success of Operation Wipeout. After graduating from LaFayette High, Vines said he received further education at Auburn University and encouraged the students to follow their dreams, sharing words of advice as they graduate and go into careers — work hard and be kind. 

Dr. Katherine Turner of the University of Alabama in Birmingham shared the importance of students receiving the HPV vaccine and how the vaccination can help prevent six types of cancer. She also said it is important for eveyone to remember the vaccine is important for everyone — male and female. 

“The HPV vaccine is really special; it’s the only vaccine that we have that can prevent cancer, which is a huge deal,” she said. “We know that if we give the HPV vaccine to people starting at age 12, then we can prevent all six of the cancers [associated with HPV]. There have been some really big research studies done where they gave this vaccine to children between the ages of 12 and 13, and they found that none of the kids who got the vaccine at that age had any of these cancers later on.”

Reminding students of the importance of modern medicine, Dr. Carinci shared her medical background, the importance of preventative vaccines and encouraged the students to share what they have learned with family and friends to continue the impact of Operation Wipeout.

“I am a person who didn’t get a vaccine,” she said. “All of you saw me walking, you saw that I limp. I had polio, which most of you have never seen because we have now eliminated that disease. I was eight months old, and I didn’t get the vaccine, and I have to live with this and all the surgeries for the rest of my life. So, for all of you, you’re not going to get polio, because we eliminated that disease, and we can eliminate the cancers that are associated with HPV. The cure is really in your hands, and it’s free. Your mom is not going to pay a dime for this vaccine; it’s either covered by health insurance, or if you don’t have insurance, it’s covered by a federal program done by the Department of Public Health. So we have 81% coverage here, that’s astonishing, but I want it at 100%.”

For more information regarding cervical cancer and HPV vaccination, visit www.operationwipeout.org.