Warren Township High School teachers take pies for charity

Decked out in swim fins, a shower cap and a Hawaiian lei, Warren Township High School business teacher Sue Walker entered the gym like a prizefighter entering the ring. Escorted by two men, Walker raised her fists in triumph as the nearly 2,000 junior and senior high students cheered wildly Thursday morning. But Walker's opponent was a pie, and she lost.

The organized mayhem was the culmination of a schoolwide food drive that began last month. Three teachers and the principal of the Almond Road Campus agreed to take a plate full of cream in the face as an incentive for students to bring items for the drive.

The idea for the charity drive came from students in last semester's Business Administration Class. The students worked on creating a business plan and decided to include the food drive as one of the elements. And as an incentive, the kids had the idea to ask Principal Doug Domeracki and other teachers to set goals for the number of items students could collect. If the goal was met, the pie was delivered.

Besides Walker, a few other folks most likely won't forget the food drive.

English teacher Dana Oddo had the privilege of smooshing Cool Whip in the face of her husband, art teacher Rocco Oddo. Physical Education teacher Yun Chen bobbed and wove but ended up with Reddi-Whip in his eyes. And Domeracki's smile could easily be seen behind the white stuff.

More than 3,000 items were collected during the weeklong drive. The food will be given to the Warren Township Food Pantry this week.