As the Dragons battled the Waukee Warriors  Sept. 18, off the field the two teamed up to raise awareness for childhood cancer. Both the Dragons and Warriors had a “gold out” in their student sections.

The idea for the night came from nurse Deb Janssen, who emailed athletic director Gary Ross. “My son Noah, who is a sophomore on the football team, had leukemia,” Janssen said. “He was diagnosed when he was about 20 months old. He went through three years of treatment and has since then been cancer free, but we have stayed very involved with different cancer organizations.”

The Dragon Nation Twitter account, owned by Sam Linder, tweeted out about the night after receiving the theme from Ross. “We then spoke to a couple of administrators, as well as student council over at Waukee to join us,” Linder said. Waukee quickly agreed to join in on the movement and got their student section involved.

Since September is national childhood cancer awareness month, Janssen and her family took this opportunity to bring awareness.

“We try to work with our community and our parents,” Ross said. “And when it’s one of ours, it just makes a lot of sense to do this.”

The football players were decked out in gold socks, while cheerleaders and the dance team wore gold bows. “I think it’s inspiring, and anyone who sees us in our bows will know we’re supporting a great cause,” junior cheerleader Breyenne Beierle said.

Ross agrees. “I think one thing that our students are wonderful about is always supporting great causes,” Ross said.

The Dragons lost to Waukee 21-30.