Tomah students rally behind teacher, coach battling cancer

Students show support through 'Gold Out' event

TOMAH, Wis. (WKBT) — Tomah High School’s gymnasium was packed with a sea of gold Friday.

The school came to together in an effort called ‘Gold Out’ to show support for their social studies teacher and long time coach Bill Carney.

Mr. Carney is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.

The school’s principal says he’s incredibly humble and always has a smile on his face. And being the person he is, made it easy for the whole school and community to get behind him.

“If you were to spend an hour in his classroom and just observe him or at a practice and observe what he does, you’d get that idea, that concept of what makes him gold. He has such a strong passion for helping kids,” said Tomah H.S. Principal Bill Paris.

Mr. Carney says he does have his bad days when he’s not able to make it through the school day. However, he says there’s no place he’d rather be.

“This is the place I’d like to be. One of the things they ask you is ‘what brings joy to you?’ and this is what brings joy to me, is being in the classroom with the kids,” said Carney.

The school ordered and sold nearly 500 shirts for the ‘Gold Out.’

The money raised goes to the Tomah Area Cancer Supports which gives financial assistance to all Tomah residents.

The students also showed their support by wearing their gold shirts at Friday night’s homecoming game. Tomah ended up winning the game against La Crosse Aquinas 21 to 0.