There's something special going on in the auto tech classes at Pine Tree High School.

Students there are getting lessons in re-finishing, buffing, sanding and painting a Harley Davidson motorcycle trike lavender and pink to help make a statement about cancer awareness.

Joel Laws, a first-year teacher in the school's auto tech department, is guiding the students through the project for Dana Cooper, an Education Service Center employee who is in remission from breast cancer.
Cooper and her husband, Neil, own the bike, and they plan to ride it and display it once it is finished to get people talking and asking questions about cancer.

"Some friends of the Coopers were assembling the bike, but the components were brought up to the school first so the students could get some experience," Laws said.

Laws, who owned a collision and repair shop for 40 years, knows a few things about the body shop business. In August, he helped start a program at Pine Tree in which students can learn about repairing damaged cars and become certified auto technicians by taking the Automotive Service Excellence or ASI tests while still in school.
Cooper, who has been in remission for a year, hopes the bike will get people talking and raise awareness, especially when she takes it Feb. 16 to the East Texas Auto and Cycle Show in Tyler.

"A couple of my doctors are really excited about it," she said.

Cooper said she used the bike as a tool to help her get through chemotherapy. She chose pink for breast cancer and lavender because it represents all cancers.

Story by DAYNA WORCHEL, Longview News Journal