Members of the La Salle High School student body in Pasadena were clueless Sept. 1 as they walked toward the gym for a "special assembly."

Nobody except principal Patrick Bonacci knew that a concert by pop star Avril Lavigne was in store, thanks to the thoughtfulness of a special senior who, several weeks prior, had contacted TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey about publicly thanking a few thousand of her closest classmates for their emotional and spiritual support during her cancer treatment.

When Bonacci called ASB president Nicole Ferris, 17, to the brightly-lit stage which had been constructed overnight in the center of the gym, she thought maybe the school had been selected to appear on a news segment of the Channel One Network, a closed circuit television program aired in schools across the country.

However, as soon as she heard Bonacci mention Oprah, she realized that her dream for her classmates was going to come true on national television.

"I began crying out of excitement," said Ferris, who recently completed chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin's Disease at City of Hope Medical Center. Since speaking with Oprah's people last July, she hadn't heard anything more from the show's staff about producing a "thank you" concert to the students for their many random acts of kindness and prayer since she was diagnosed with cancer before student body elections last spring.

"I was in shock when I realized this was a present from Oprah to thank the students," explained Ferris. She said seeing Lavigne perform her signature songs such as "Complicated" and "Skater Boy" to the cheering crowd was like having an out-of-body experience. After the concert, she got to speak privately with Lavigne, an eight-time Grammy nominee whose album sales total 14 million worldwide.

"Avril was really interested and concerned about my situation," said Ferris, who at 5'2" is about the same height as the 20-year-old singer. "I noticed she was very real and really shy." Lavigne had traveled to the event accompanied by her father, who told Ferris: "Give it to God and you'll get through it."

Ferris was touched that Lavigne wanted to be the one to tell her that she and her mother were going to be flown to Oprah's studio in Chicago for the show's taping Sept. 9. At the taping, Ferris was thrilled to be in close proximity with another of her favorite singers, Usher, whose "Confessions" album is topping the charts. "I was standing just two feet away from him," gushed Ferris.

A parishioner, lector and youth leader at Holy Angels Church in Arcadia, Ferris said her faith has been integral to her healing process. "My faith was strengthened as I relied on God, especially during chemotherapy," said Ferris, adding that she received over 50 Mass cards from relatives and friends.

On the day before her first chemo treatment, the entire student body and faculty at La Salle held a healing prayer service where participants extended their hands toward Ferris as they prayed for her recovery. On the Fridays when Ferris had her chemo treatments, classmates and teachers took turns praying for her in the school chapel.

According to Ferris, her doctors are impressed with her stamina. Surprisingly, she's never had to have a blood transfusion in the six months of her treatment, something that's often necessary. Now finished with chemotherapy, she begins two-and-a-half weeks of radiation. Her doctors say they expect that Ferris will live to be a grandmother.

"It's the support that helped me get through this," declared Ferris.