In three weeks, students, parents and staff at Pima Butte Elementary School will lace up their sneakers for a beloved third grade teacher.

They will take part in a community cancer walk and fundraiser for longtime teacher Denise Palmer next month at Maricopa High School. The event will raise funds to support Palmer as she undergoes treatment for Stage 4 large B-cell lymphoma.

“She’s my son’s third grade teacher and she’s very loved by her students and by the people who work with her,” said parent Monica Duke, who is also one of the event’s organizers.

Palmer was diagnosed with the fast-growing blood cancer in March last year and has been receiving aggressive treatment since. Most recently, she underwent CAR-T cell therapy — a type of immunotherapy that uses the patient’s own cells to target cancer cells — and is now awaiting results.

The walk will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on March 14 and is donation-based, meaning there is no registration or participation fee. Attendees can contribute through general donations, a bake sale, a 50/50 raffle or T-shirt sales, Duke said.

For those unable to attend, a GoFundMe has been set up.

“We just want to provide some support for her financially to help her through this time,” Duke said. “We know she has a lot of medical bills that have accumulated and she’s had to take a significant time off work, so we just wanted to be able to help her out so she can focus on her health.”

Palmer, who has taught second and third grade at Pima Butte for 20 years, said she feels “humbled” by the support.

“It just shows you how much you’ve touched people’s lives,” she said. “I am very appreciative of the community doing this.”

As she awaits results from her most recent treatment, Palmer said she hopes to return to the classroom next year.

“I miss going every day and seeing the kids,” she said. “I enjoy their spunk.”