100 Students Show Solidarity With Teacher Battling Cancer With Surprise Performance at Her Home

By Johanna Li

Updated: 2:13 PM PDT, September 16, 2016

"We thought this was a way to say, 'We're thinking of you. We're fighting with you. We're your cheerleaders,'" another teacher at the school said.

More than 100 students, including the marching band, showed up at the the Ohio home of a beloved teacher to serenade her with cheers and songs of solidarity in her battle against cancer.

Read: Instead of Missing First Day of School for Her Adoption, This 10-Year-Old's Class Came With Her

Lorraine Perna, 63, has been a business teacher at Wayne High School in Dayton for nearly 30 years.

She started school along with everyone else this fall, but decided to take a medical leave of absence as she began chemotherapy treatments, said Jessie Livesay, a history teacher at the school.

To show Perna she has the school's full support in her fight, more than 100 students showed up one afternoon singing, dancing, and carrying signs with messages that read, "We love you Mrs. Perna!"

"She was in complete shock," Livesay told InsideEdition.com. "She didn't realize what was going on at first."

The school's marching band serenaded their beloved teacher with the fight song, the football team presented her with a signed helmet, and students even collected different gifts and baskets to cheer her up.

The display got so big that the police had to come block traffic off the street, and a school resource officer showed up to oversee the event, Livesay said.

Read: After Beating Cancer, Beloved Teacher Gets Surprise From Her Former Students

"We thought this was a way to say, 'We're thinking of you. We're fighting with you. We're your cheerleaders,'" Livesay said of her mentor.

Watch: 400 Students Sing Hymns in Teacher's Backyard After He Stops Cancer Treatment