ANSONIA – This year’s breast cancer awareness assembly at Mead School was held to honor the memory of Jessica Holohan, who passed away from the disease earlier this year.
Held in the school’s gymnasium Oct. 22, the assembly featured a tribute video remembering Holohan and the presentation of a check to breast cancer awareness organization Seymour Pink.
Schoolteachers and students dressed in purple – Holohan’s favorite color – as they gathered to listen to speakers describe Holohan’s impact on the community.
“She came in every day, even fighting through treatment, never complaining, positive,” said Amy Cosciello, the school’s principal. “We miss her terribly, and there’s no better way to bring awareness to breast cancer and to honor her than today.”
Holohan, who worked as a teacher and math specialist at Mead, had also won awards in her teaching in Florida before coming to Ansonia in 2021. She was 45 years old when she passed away Aug. 27.
Among those recognized at the assembly were her husband, Bill Holohan, and their son, Maddox. During the pie-throwing ceremony – an annual tradition where students get to toss pies at their teachers – Maddox tossed the first pie, which managed to splat on two teachers at once.
Following Maddox were the three classes which had raised the most money for Seymour Pink, who threw dozens upon dozens of pies at teachers lined up in a row of chairs, dousing them in layers of purple frosting.
Bill Holohan said the ceremony was a great way to remember Jessica.
“Ansonia has been great to my family and to Jess, and I couldn’t be more appreciative of everybody,” he said.
Mary Deming, the founder of Seymour Pink, talked to the gathered children about the importance of breast cancer awareness and the fundraising they had done. She also paid tribute to Holohan in her remarks.
“Although she is not with us now, she is in our hearts. She’s in our brains, in terms of the memories that she gave us, how she helped us: the smile she had when we needed it most,” Deming said.
School administrators gave gifts to the Holohan family during the assembly, and also recognized Denice Hunt and Christine White, two staff members at Mead who have had their own battles with breast cancer in the past.
At the end of the ceremony, school administrators and the Holohan family presented Deming with a ceremonial check for $310 to Seymour Pink.
Speaking after the ceremony, Krista Casey – a teacher at Mead and a friend of Holohan’s – said that Holohan was a source of support for both children and other teachers alike.
“She was a team player all around, in everything she did,” Casey said. “She was a good friend above anything else. Someone to talk to. I know if I was stressed or having a bad day, I always would talk to her.”
She also remembered Holohan as someone who loved jokes and never took herself too seriously. Before the tribute video aired, there were brief technical issues, which sent loud feedback noises echoing around the gym. Casey said that was Holohan’s way of continuing to bring laughter to the kids.
“All those noises that the technology was making – that was her, playing a little joke. She was like, ‘I know you guys are all talking about me now.’”