Pi Day takes on new meaning at Landon Middle School
It is not in Timothy Feagins’ job description to be duct-taped high up on the wall of the cafeteria and pelted with whipped cream pies, but as principal of Julia Landon College Preparatory School, Feagins didn’t seem to mind.
“Anything for the kids,” he said.
Throwing pies in Feagins’ face during lunch in the school cafeteria March 14 – on Pi Day, no less – was the reward for the top six student fundraisers in the Friends of Landon’s first-ever fund drive. The Friends of Landon is a new 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to increase available funding to provide Landon faculty and staff with additional resources to support its academic program.
In total, Landon students and their families raised $14,828, surpassing their initial goal of $12,000. The money will begin a renovation project to convert the school’s media center into a 21st century learning commons.
As one of the top fundraisers in the Friends of Landon first annual fundraiser, sixth-grader Grant Tucker tosses a pie in Landon Principal Timothy Feagins’ face during lunch March 14.
To help accomplish its goal, the students in each of Landon’s three grade levels were challenged to raise $4,000. The eighth grade was the top fundraiser, earning $5,690.68 and was awarded a movie party during the fourth quarter of the school year. The sixth grade also met its goal, raising $4,690.47. All members of the class were allowed to eat lunch outside as a reward on March 16.
Ever the good sport, Feagins agreed to spend all three lunch periods duct-taped to the wall of the school cafeteria if the student body reached the Friends of Landon’s goal of raising $12,000. While hanging several feet off the ground, Feagins was the target of the pie toss on Pi Day, named for the mathematical symbol Pi, which equals 3.14.
As the top individual fundraisers, Grant Tucker, Juliana Thint and Nico Summa of Avondale were the pie-throwers in the sixth-grade class. Mia Summa of Avondale, Fabrizio Gowdy of Riverside, and Nathan Lubow of San Marco threw pies on behalf of the eighth-graders. Although no one threw a pie during the seventh-grade lunch period, as a consolation prize, students lined up to ask the captive Principal Feagins any question they wanted.
Most of the money was raised by the nonprofit through cash and checks received from parents brought to the school by the students. Parents were also invited to make donations online.
Landon students were also invited to participate in a “Clash of Coins” competition by dropping spare change and money into jars set up in the school cafeteria. The seventh grade won that competition, putting a total of $365.95 toward the final amount raised of $797.10.
Bradley Grant, a student from San Marco, dropped his entire savings, $16.69, in the seventh-grade jar during lunch March 3. “I’ve been saving the money for a long time to get something I want, but I haven’t seen anything that I want, so I figured I would give it to my school,” he said. “I did it because I want to help my school out.”
Howard Coker, an Empire Point resident and alumnus of Landon High, “matched” the students’ Clash of Coins total with a donation of $1,000. An anonymous donor also agreed to contribute $2,000 if the school could raise at least $10,000, in order to have the school meet its goal.
Proceeds from the fundraiser will purchase two work tables, 12 counter-height chairs, two flat-screen monitors, and four lounge chairs with tablet arms for the media center, all which will be in place before school closes for summer, said Feagins.
Interested parents, alumni and former students are invited to continue to make online donations at www.friendsoflandon.org throughout the year, said Friends of Landon President Cindy Pearson of San Marco.
By Marcia Hodgson
Resident Community News
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