Marlowe Middle Students Walk with Teagan

Hundreds of Marlowe Middle School students and teachers will be walking in a 24-hour walk-a-thon for children like Teagan Haniszewski, a Huntley girl who has overcome brain cancer and whose family has started a nonprofit called Opening Doors with Teagan.  

“The school has rallied around the foundation, it’s just an amazing thing,” Teagan’s mother, Carly said.

Students will gather at the school, 9625 Haligus Road, Lake in the Hills, Thursday for a kick off at 3:15 p.m. Seven-year-old Teagan will join students for an opening lap. The walk-a-thon raises fund for the foundation, which helps children with brain tumors and other traumas. Teams will rotate to make sure someone from each team is always walking.

Opening Doors with Teagan was selected as the school’s community service project for this school year.

Earlier in the year, students at the middle school challenged each other to a week long Penny War in which pennies and other currency were brought to donate to Opening Doors with Teagan. A grand total of $3,094.63 was donated to the non-profit organization.

Teagan Haniszewski is a first-grade student in District 158 who began a battle with a cancerous brain tumor at the age of 2, and has fought through surgery, a lung infection, a brain infection, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Teagan lost the ability to walk and talk. Now, she can walk with the help of a walker and can speak soft, short words. A few years ago, a local Girl Scout Troop helped purchase a walker for Teagan.

It was that experience that stirred her mom and dad, Bryant, to create the foundation.

“We understand, as a family, how important this equipment was to our daughter and we couldn’t afford it and our insurance couldn’t cover it,” Carly Haniszewski said. “So we want to give back to these kids. We want these kids to live the life they deserve to live.”