The flag in front of St. John The Baptist Diocesan High School has flown at half mast this week, as the school mourns the loss of student Shannon Serkes.
Serkes, 17, passed away at her Farmingdale home on Saturday, after a two-year battle with rhabdoid cancer.
"She lived her life, especially these past two years, on her own terms and is certainly an insipration to the many who got to know her through her outreach to us over these last few months," the school said in a bulletin posted on its website. "May her life, faith and passion live on forever through all who knew her." A video of Serkes addressing her SJB family will be kept on the site.
Last year, Serkes' friends and classmates at Kempo Karate founded Shannon's Fight to aid children with rare forms of cancer and .
The Serkes family has requested donations in Shannon's memory to the Make A Wish Foundation or Hospice Care Network in lieu of flowers.
