Alpharetta Students Throw Pies in the Faces of Teacher, Principal

It's doubtful anyone would count a pie in the face as a measure of a classroom or school's success, but that was a measure for New Prospect Elementary School. Students, staff and parents collected close to $4,000 in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Pennies for Patients program, which prompted the smashing of dessert in the faces of the principal and one of the teachers.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) reported the school did this in an effort to teach the children about community and about the importance of supporting others. The funds raised will go towards fulfilling the Mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which is to find cures for blood cancers and improve the quality of lives of patients and their families.

Led by fourth grade students of Ms. Haley Lenker's class, this was New Prospect Elementary School's first year participating in Pennies For Patients. The program began on Jan. 28 with an educational kick-off assembly by LLS staff and ended a week and a half later on Feb. 8. The school raised a total of $3991.16 in that short time.

To achieve their success, the students entered a competition between grade levels where the winning grade would get to throw a pie at a selected faculty member’s face for every $100 they raised. The fourth grade students raised the most amount of money, $1,264.98. Three students from Ms. Lenker’s 4th grade class – Lauren Kalmon, Rayann Mahmood and Payton McKemie  – all brought in $100 of their own money. Since Ms. Lenker's class raised more than $600, they earned the right to throw pies at her face. Dr. Rako Morrissey, the principal, also had a pie thrown in her face since the school surpassed their initial goal of raising $900.

Julie Kalmon, a parent of Lauren Kalmon, a student in Ms. Lenker's class, explained her daughter insisted on giving her own money for Pennies For Patients, “The money Lauren gave was from her piggy bank and she was adamant to give her money. She would not let us give our money instead of hers and told us it was just something she had to do to help sick kids.”

“It was so inspiring to see the students at New Prospect Elementary really caring about helping others,” said Kelly Dolan, Executive Director of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Georgia Chapter. “This program is truly meaningful for them because leukemia is a disease that impacts children, and the students learn that they can really make a difference.” 

During the 2011-2012 school year, more than 700 Georgia schools participated in the Pennies for Patients program and raised over $663,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. For more information about LLS’s School & Youth Programs, visit  www..