Talk of the Town - Whitley County

By Jennifer Zartman Romano

The students at Coesse Elementary School have learned that philanthropy can be fun.

On Wednesday, the administration, staff and students celebrated several weeks of fundraising efforts in support of the American Cancer Society’s Whitley County Relay for Life with a mini relay and field day at the school.

After enjoying basketball, relaying around the school’s grass track, giant inflatable moonwalks, face painting and other activities, the students celebrated their fundraising success by super-soaking their principal, Tammy Weimer, with squirt guns, drenching their favorite teachers in chocolate sauce, sprinkles and whipped cream, singing along as their school office staff serenaded them – and cheering loudly as their check for $1938.65 was presented to representatives of the Whitley County Relay for Life.

Whitley County Relay for Life co-chairs, as well as American Cancer Society representative Sara Goff, happily accepted the check during a brief ceremony in the field next to the school. The check was presented officially by Weimer and Coesse teacher Brandi Duncan.

For their fundraising efforts, students were randomly selected to pour ten toppings over the heads of their teachers – eliciting the appropriate heckling and rowdy cheers from the crowd. The good sports, the teachers and staff who allowed this to happen to them, included Angie Grable, Lori Heuer, Stacey Raptis, Brandi Duncan, Rachel Mowery and Carmen Eager.

After the “ice cream incident,” school office staff members Lisa Bassett and Cheryl Hoffman rocked out to Pat Benetar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” Decked out in 80s era finery, they played guitar and karaoked with the best of them.

The final excitement of the afternoon included the “once in a lifetime” opportunity for several randomly selected students to super-soak their principal, Tammy Weimer. Another good sport, Weimer endured many squirt gun blasts before having buckets of water dumped over her head by the office staff – further delighting the audience of students on the grass nearby.

Teacher Brandi Duncan, one of a committee that helped plan the days activities and coordinated the fundraising, was pleased with the school’s efforts for a good cause.

“If everyone could raise $500, what a difference it would make for a worthwhile cause,” Duncan said. “I just wish everyone could do it. It was awesome.”

The team that coordinated the day’s activities included Mindy Bloomfield, Stacey Raptis, Lori Heuer, Margaret Taylor, Angie Grable, Roxanne Thomas and Brandi Duncan.

Duncan was pleased to thank several sponsors for the event including Autoliv (who donated Coesse Relay for Life shirts for each child in the school), Undersea Sensors, Northeastern REMC, Coesse PTO and several others without whom she feels the event would not have been such an outstanding success.