Good sport that he is, Temple MacDonald has spent the night in a tent on the school roof and jumped out of an airplane in recent years.
This time the fun-loving principal of St. John the Evangelist School in Warrenton, grades K-8, agreed to become a human ice cream sundae if the school and parish community met its $25,000 scholarship fundraising goal.
“I was looking for different ideas about what I could do this year, and this is what we came up with,” said MacDonald. “They smashed the goal and raised over $47,000.”
True to his word, MacDonald donned a trash bag, took a seat, and strapped on a pair of goggles, as 230 students began a wild celebration by pouring half-gallon containers of melted ice cream on his head. Then came the toppings — chocolate, strawberry, and caramel syrups — nothing was spared. Collective screams and howls of laughter ensued as whipped cream cans were emptied on his head, along with sprinkles, marshmallows, candies, gummy bears and cookie crumbles.
“This particular experience was a little chilly and very sticky,” said Jill Evans, assistant principal. “The school community looks forward to his next adventure, which is yet undetermined.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever done anything this crazy before, like as a reward,” said Alivia Nicholson, eighth grader. “Normally it’s like a school-wide dress down day or maybe like ice cream social or something like that, but I can’t believe he agreed to turning himself into an ice cream sundae. It was a lot of fun.”
Unrecognizable after undergoing the 20-minute transformation, MacDonald was then hosed down by the Warrenton Fire Department.
“My favorite part was putting the cookies on him and watching them spray the hose on him,” said P.J. Princi, kindergartener.
The joyful event was a celebration of an entire parish community uniting to fulfill a crucial need. “We took this need to our parish and without them, we would have barely made our goal,” said Jolynn Desch, PTO president. “We didn’t have to twist any arms. One man came out of Mass and wrote us a $2,000 check.”
“To be able to meet our goal and to give this back to families who aren’t able to afford a Catholic education is so great for our community,” said Dahlia Iacopelli, PTO secretary. “This ensures that all students and families can be part of this.”
Nearly half of all students at St. John the Evangelist receives tuition assistance. Like all Catholic schools, MacDonald said tuition has skyrocketed since women religious no longer comprise a large percentage of the faculty, requiring the employment of lay teachers. Meanwhile, the demand for Catholic education continues to increase.
“The parish has been so supportive of Catholic education, but it’s a real challenge,” he said. “It’s a balancing act to ensure we have the support for high achieving students with an honors math and literature program, or that we have the support on the other side with a resource director and instructional assistant to support those with some additional needs.”
To meet those needs, St. John the Evangelist School has a history of rising to the occasion. “If we work together we can totally reach our goal,” said Nicholson, the eighth grader. “Celebrating and working toward our goal makes it a lot more meaningful.”
