Scarselli Elementary sixth-grader John Angelides stood in front of hundreds of his peers on Tuesday and launched an unwieldy, whipped-cream pie into the wincing face of Principal Brandon Swain.
The pie splattered not only across the principal's face, but onto the green jacket he had donned to stave off the snow. As the audience erupted in applause, the principal stood there speechless, wiped his eyes.
John, 11, was standing only feet away, and he feared no retribution. Throwing the pie into the principal's face was his and the class of Wendy Smith's reward for gathering the most food during Scarselli's second annual food drive.
"It was widely successful last year," said fifth-grade teacher Katie Hill. "The kids get really excited about it."
Hill oversees the school's Cheetah Club, 50 members strong, which sponsored the food drive Nov. 15-19. On Tuesday, she reported the drive produced approximately 2,320 food items to be donated to the Backpack Buddies program throughout the district.
"You guys did a fantastic job this year," Hill told students. "You guys are so generous to help others in need."
After pieing the principal, John returned to his class with a big smile on his face.
"It's the first time I've ever pied someone," he admitted. "It felt pretty exciting."
Then came the principal himself covered in whipped cream.
"It feels like Thanksgiving," Swain joked. "I really don't know what the motivation is. Whatever it is, it works. We collected about the same amount of food as we did last year."
Swain said that while on stage, seconds before his pieing, he had kneeled down to ask John if he really wanted to go through with it.
"He said, 'Oh, yes!'"
