SLAM DUNK

North Shore Country Day School students raise more than $10,000 for Alzheimer’s research.

Back in the Mac Gym for the first time since 2020, North Shore Country Day’s Annual Dunk Alzheimer’s Basketball Bash on Jan. 21 brought in more than $10,000 to support Alzheimer’s research.

This year marks the 11th year NSCD has partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association to raise money and spread awareness for this important cause.

“Being back in the Mac this year was super exciting because the student body’s energy and the atmosphere around the basketball games are a large part of what Dunk Alz is and how it was started,” explains Emma Greer of Evanston, one of five NSCD seniors on the Dunk Alz student planning committee. “My favorite part was the varsity boys basketball game because the spirit of the student body was so high!”

Although it’s her third year on the committee, which includes sophomores, juniors, and seniors, it was her first time helping to organize a Dunk Alz Basketball Bash that actually included basketball or took place in the school’s gym.

Because of the pandemic, the fundraiser took a different shape over the past two years as it shifted to an outdoor, springtime event. But this year, Dunk Alz returned to its roots with a full slate of upper school basketball games— with free-throw fundraisers during each halftime. The day capped off with an upper school dance. Leading up to the event, students also sold Dunk Alz t-shirts and sweatpants.

“The Dunk Alz Committee would like to thank everyone who donated and supported the event,” Greer says. “We’re already excited for next year!”

Greer is one of the many people in the NSCD community who has a personal connection to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, and says she got involved because she wanted to be part of something that was making a real difference. Since 2013, the

NSCD community has raised close to $90,000 for Alzheimer’s research.

Alzheimer’s affects more than 6 million Americans and was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2020, killing more people than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. At this time, there is no treatment to cure or stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease, and federal funding for research is at risk of being cut, so fundraisers like this one are needed now more than ever.

Dunk Alzheimer’s was started by NSCD alumnus Jonathan Segal, Class of 2015, in honor of his grandmother who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at age 60. It was carried on by his younger sister Caroline Segal, who graduated in 2020. And while there are no longer any members of the Segal family enrolled at NSCD, upper school students have stepped up to continue the work they began.