CHS honors former student Kevin Cordasco with memorial basketball game

(Photo courtesy of Calabasas Community Outreach Facebook page)

Everyone in the Calabasas community remembers Kevin Cordasco. Tomorrow during lunch, the students and faculty of CHS will come together to honor his memory. Cordasco passed away on March 11, 2013, after a long battle with neuroblastoma. He was 16. Friday, March 13, marks the third annual Kevin Cordasco Basketball Game at CHS, a lively event that pits students against faculty members in a friendly competition.

The student team includes seniors Sammy Kaufman, Adam Ginsberg, Kai Cohen, Cole Bowers, Alex Resnick, Brady Welles, Tomas Perez, Cameron Hosseiniyar, Eden Brand, Jack Korchek, Jordan Feinstein, Jordan Schore, Neil Villadolid, Tristan Matters, Max Green and sophomore Nick Sanitsky. ASB representatives organizing the game have suggested there may be more underclassmen who will also participate. Their faculty challengers are Assistant Principals Lauren Young, Steve Scifres and Ryan Emery, Algebra II and Robotics teacher Michael Yeung, health teacher Cory Chandler and Officer Mark Merino, among others.

“Kevin was an incredibly strong person who sadly was taken too soon,” said senior Talia Plachta, the Associated Student Body Community Outreach Commissioner. “I hope CHS shares the joy and love [Kevin] brought to this world and the people who surrounded him. We can never forget the impact he left here.”

To be sure, everyone in Calabasas agrees with Plachta. Plachta, along with fellow Community Commissioners juniors Justin Greenwald and Alex Barr and ASB Athletic Commissioners seniors Sammy Kaufman, Ally Freed and Noah Perry and junior Rae Burnstein have helped organize the game in the hopes to honor Kevin’s memory and unbreakable spirit.

During the game, CHS will cheer on the Cordasco family not only emotionally with its support but also literally, as Kevin’s younger brother, sophomore Cade Cordasco, and father Kevin, pictured above, will also be on the court.

In honor of Kevin, participants and spectators are encouraged to wear blue and keep Kevin’s inspirational mantra, “Courage, Strength, Believe,” in mind.

—-Cydney Hayes