POTTSTOWN >> In a not-so-unique “twist,” Pottstown High School’s Trojan Man mascot is gaining a reputation as a real childhood cancer fighter.
Two Trojan Men (there are actually 14) made an appearance on the Fox 29 morning program “Good Morning Philadelphia” Monday to kick off a national campaign to combat childhood cancer.
They were there as part of a group organized by Mascots for a Cure, an Oregon-based non-profit that raises money for children’s cancer research using school and sports mascots.
It is Mascots for a Cure that has championed the “Twist Challenge” video dance campaign on social media that uses the Chubby Checker classic to raise awareness and money for the cause.
The group is kicking off a national “Lace Up and Twist Away Childhood Cancer Tour” in Philadelphia, said Derek Zinzser, the group’s founder, and the Trojan Men were there to help kick it off.
“We’ll be going into 36 states in 48 days, visiting children’s hospitals, Rotary Clubs, universities and its all to raise awareness and to fight childhood cancer,” he said.
After his father died of cancer, Zinser founded Mascots for a Cure, figuring that colorful larger-than-life mascots would bring joy to sick children as well as help raise the money to cure them.
So true to their cause, it wasn’t long before everyone was twisting away to Chubby Checker with “Layla,” a 6-year-old Delaware girl fighting a rare form of bone cancer.
“It was pretty cool. It’s the first time I’ve ever been in a TV studio,” said junior Owen Morton, who donned one of the costumes for the appearance.
“But I think my favorite thing was seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces,” he said.
Freshman John Oister, who wore the second Trojan Man outfit, said he liked hanging out with the other mascots.
Both said they were “recruited” to be part of the Trojan Man team by Dave Woodley, the high school’s management information systems teacher and a 2004 graduate of Pottstown High.
It was Woodley who jump-started the mascot tradition into high gear a few years ago and he continues to build on it, making the mascot a symbol of the school district’s integration with the community.
Not only did Woodley bring Oister and Morton down to be on television, he also brought junior Anthony Santiago to portray the green mascot Jordy.
“We were already planning on coming down into Philly today anyway to visit Rosa’s Pizza Shop,” said Woodley.
That shop, discovered by Pottstown students last year while attending a musical performance at Temple University, allows customers to buy extra pizza slices for the homeless. “Pottstown kids kind of fell in love with that place and adopted it as their spot in the city,” he said.
Another mascot-centered event – a face-off with the Pottsgrove Falcon – raised $252, and another $220 was raised by Franklin Elementary students selling pretzels. Monday, that money was presented to Rosa’s to buy 472 pizza slices for the homeless.
“So coming down to be on TV just meant we had to get up a whole lot earlier,” Woodley said with a laugh.
He and this three mascots were sitting in the parking lot at the Philadelphia Museum of Art waiting for Pottstown High School Principal Danielle McCoy.
Although school was out for President’s Day Monday, Montgomery County Community College was open and two more Trojan Men, juniors Austin Andrews and Aaron Diamond, had to go to their college classes there.
Andrews and Diamond had been “two of the top fundraisers for Rosas and Ms. McCoy didn’t want them to be penalized for going to class, so she’s driving them down to meet us,” Woodley explained.
From there, the two juniors will don their mascot gear to participate in a second stop of the Lace-Up tour – a dancing video shot at the Liberty Bell.
But Pottstown may not have seen the last of the Mascots for a Cure tour yet.
“On Friday, Feb. 24th, we will be driving right by Pottstown. Being that Pottstown has done so much for our organization we would like to do a few things with your school,” Zinser wrote in an email to McCoy.
Among those things is a school-wide “Pep Rally with your cheer team, mascots, staff and student body. We would LOVE to be able to get your entire school to be involved with our three step challenge of: 1) Purchase and wear your Lacey’s Laces (www.shoecarnival.com/lacey). 2) Take the Chubby Checker Twist Challenge (you are all familiar with this). 3) Donate (which your school has been so great at).
So if you’re driving down Wilson Street and just happen to see a bus full of mascots go buy, you’re not seeing things. They’re here to fight cancer.
