Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Washington Elementary gather around retiring vocal music teacher L.J. Roderick for a big hug after he was hit in the face by a whipped cream pie as part of a fundraiser.
BESSEMER - Washington Elementary School students learned about the bells and whistles inside emergency and law enforcement vehicles Tuesday afternoon and even got to throw a pie in the face of school staff and law enforcement as part of a fundraising effort.
Students climbed inside a Bessemer Fire Department fire truck, Michigan State Police Wakefield Post cruisers, a Beacon ambulance, a Gogebic County Sheriff's Department boat and up on a GCSD off-road vehicle.
MSP Trooper Jerry Mazurek said students had fun turning on the sirens and the flashing lights. "It's exciting stuff," he said.
Near the ambulance, Rachel Mazurek, a 2016 Bessemer graduate, pretended to be injured. She was on a stretcher and tended to by emergency responder Katleyn Sterbenz.
Head Teacher Diana Hanson said students saw law enforcement in a positive light.
"Knowing that children are safe and secure is important, because there's a lot of people that care about them," she said.
After the lights and sirens were turned off, students chanted, "Pie in the face."
On hand to get "pied" were select school staff and volunteers, including GCSD Sheriff Pete Matonich, Deputy Brandon Lyons and Mazurek.
Students began fundraising for the event earlier in the school year by purchasing tickets for 25 cents to be entered into a drawing to "pie" the victim of their choice.
In all, students raised $212 by selling 848 tickets.
In front of her fellow classmates, sixth-grader Olivia France launched a pie at her father, Tim France, who is also Bessemer Area School District athletic director.
When he got up from the chair, France hugged his a daughter and smeared whipped cream on her.
The last victim was retiring vocal music teacher L.J. Roderick. Roderick was pied by sixth-grade student Sean Korpela.
While wiping whipped cream off his face, Roderick said he's going to miss each and every student and enjoyed teaching music to them. The students responded by giving him a big hug to say goodbye.
Today is the last day of the school year in Bessemer.
