Sussex Academy students raise $3K to support Water for South Sudan

Sussex Academy sixth-graders recently raised more than $3,400 to benefit Water for South Sudan. Each year, students conduct the fundraiser in conjunction with their study of the book “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park.

Several years ago, current freshman Grier Lawson proposed the sixth grade join the Iron Giraffe Challenge while reading the book. The challenge raises money in support of Water for South Sudan, a nonprofit organization founded by the book’s protagonist, Salva Dut.

That first year, students raised almost $2,000, and the amount has grown each year, resulting in the construction of a well in South Sudan that is engraved with Sussex Academy’s name.

The fundraiser has two parts; one is an external online donation and the other is Pie in the Face Day, when staff members volunteer to take a whipped-cream-and-sprinkles pie in the face. Students buy $1 tickets for a random chance to pie an employee.

Staff donned their trash bags, shower caps, goggles and other protective gear March 16, and gathered in the school multipurpose room to await their turn for a student’s name to be pulled from a cup, winning the chance to pie that adult in the face.

Sussex Academy staff members who signed up to receive a pie in the face for a good cause are Amy Adamcik, Kyle Bentley, Deon Brunskill, Nico Caceres, Michael Campanese, Jon English, Dawnyel Furlong, Stephanie Hartsoe, Mindy Hete, Rachael Johnston, Nikki Kaczmarczyk, Stacy Lawson, Jessica Love and Samantha Melvin.

Sussex Academy is a tuition-free, public charter K-12 school in Georgetown.