MIDDLE VILLAGE — When Liz Colon returned to Our Lady of Hope Catholic Academy on Oct. 23, just weeks after undergoing a double mastectomy, she found a school dressed in pink — and had some good news of her own to celebrate.
She is cancer-free.
The pre-K teacher was diagnosed with bilateral stage 3 breast cancer in April, beginning months of chemotherapy, surgery, and uncertainty. But throughout it all, Colon said she never faced the disease by herself.
“Once I was diagnosed, I immediately reached out to my principal, and I told her what was going on. And then I reached out to my families, and the amount of support that I received just that first week was absolutely amazing,” Colon said. “It reminded me that I didn’t fight this fight alone.”
Students and staff turned that support into a sea of pink, holding a “Pink Out” in Colon’s honor one day ahead of the 2026 Susan G. Komen Greater New York City Race for the Cure on Oct. 24, where members of the school community will join Colon’s “Courage, Hope, and Ms. Colon” team — a name that was inspired by the school.
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Colon underwent chemotherapy throughout the summer, receiving her final treatment on Sept. 4 before returning to the classroom to begin the new school year with her students.
Weeks later, she underwent a double mastectomy before returning to school with the news her community had been praying for.
“I still have a journey ahead of me. I still have things I need to get done, but I’m cancer-free, and I’m so happy,” Colon said.
Our Lady of Hope continues to rally around her throughout that journey. Principal Kara McCarthy said the school community “jumped into action” after learning of Colon’s diagnosis, with families and faculty finding different ways to support her throughout treatment. They organized a meal train, stayed in touch with Colon, and had matching pink shirts made for the school.
“Just a few short months ago, we had what we thought was terrible news,” McCarthy said, “and here we are celebrating how far she’s come, and how much we’ve come together as a school community for her as her family.”
Additionally, her team initially set a $3,000 fundraising goal for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, but by the day of the Pink Out, it had surpassed $9,000.
“The money is like an added layer. We always want to try to show our support,” McCarthy said. ‘(The funds are) not just for her; it’s for the bigger community, so that other people who are struggling (with breast cancer) need some extra support, and maybe don’t have this village behind them to support — this will also help them.”
Seventh grader Angelina Strocchia is part of that village and has known Colon since she was one of her pre-K students.
“I’m so proud of her, and I’m so glad that she beat it, especially because I’ve known her for a long time, and I know how good a teacher she is,” Angelina said. “We wore pink today in honor of not only breast cancer…and for her, because she’s a very strong survivor … we’re all just here for her all the time.
Among the students wearing pink was Colon’s 12-year-old son, Alexander Telechea, a seventh grader at Our Lady of Hope, who watched her go through months of treatment.
“My mom has been very brave,” Alexander said. “She’s been struggling sometimes, but she made it to where she’s able to do everything she used to do. It was sad what she went through, but she beat it all … it was very emotional.”
Colon will now take the support she received at Our Lady of Hope with her to Saturday’s Race for the Cure, where she was invited to speak about her experience. She also joined the Susan G. Komen Foundation on Oct. 19 to ring The Opening Bell® at the New York Stock Exchange for breast cancer awareness.
“I never thought this could happen to me, and here I am,” Colon said. “I want to make sure that every woman out there knows that early detection is best, and that together we can fight breast cancer.”
McCarthy said the way Our Lady of Hope rallied around Colon reflects what Catholic education is meant to look like beyond the classroom.
“This is the perfect example of what we are and what we do every single day,” she said. “We come together for each other. We provide support for each other. We come together in prayer.”
Colon said her faith and prayer were at the forefront of her journey from the beginning.
“My faith has led me here,” she said. “The power of prayer is amazing, and the prayers that I’ve received have led me here to this day, where I can say, honestly, I’m cancer-free.”