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RHS Students, faculty rally behind Ridgewood teen

Julia Leonard

FEBRUARY 12, 2016    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

RIDGEWOOD – Members of Ridgewood High School’s (RHS) Project Interact (PI) group showed a video on Feb. 9 of former student Julia Leonard requesting to meet talk-show host Ellen Degeneres and hoping to get a new wheelchair.

A graduate of RHS, Class of 2015, Leonard has gone through a lot in her relatively short life, surviving a rare form of spinal cancer and adapting to an ordinary life as best she can.

Despite the trials and tribulations that come with dealing with such health complications, Leonard retained her sense of happiness by watching her favorite television shows, including “The Ellen Degeneres Show.”

It was by watching the television program that Leonard regained her desire to dance, thanks to seeing Ellen Degeneres cavorting around her set during her shows.

“Cancer almost took away my love for dancing, until I saw your show,” Leonard said in the video. “You inspired me to dance every day when you shake down the stage. I love to dance in my wheelchair.”

Leonard initially made her own video for Degeneres, but decided to accept the help of PI when it offered.

Nancy Reilly, a science teacher and one of the staff involved with PI, explained that while she was impressed with Leonard’s original video, she thought the student group could help make an even better one.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/students-faculty-rally-behind-teen-with-video-1.1510921