Getting a piece of the pie

Dec. 15—When the first pie hit the face of Stephen Hancock, Denise Shriver rubbed the whipped cream all over his face.

Hancock wiped his eyes, got up, turned to Shriver and pied her in return.

Then it was all-out war.

The whipped cream went flying as Asotin High School students watched John Kowatsch hit Rachele Thummel with a pie made of whipped cream at the Wilcox Gym.

By the end, it was all smiles underneath the creamed faces of the teachers — after all, it was for a good cause. The event was the culmination of the annual coin wars at the high school, which raised $636.12 for Lewiston's Northwest Children's Home. Tracy Horak, fundraising coordinator for the children's home, picked up the check.

The competition is between the freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classes at the school. Students raise money by bringing in coins, which are positive points, and bills, which are negative points, and place them into whatever donation can they choose.

Shriver said students sometimes make the decision on who they want to see win by giving coins, or who they want to see pied by donating bills.

Class advisers are the ones who get pied, which includes Shriver for the senior class, Thummel for the junior class, Hancock for the sophomore class, and Kowatsch for the freshman class.

Usually the winning teacher gets to pie the losing teacher. However, this year the teachers decided everyone should get a piece of the pie because Hancock was also pied last year.

Students and teachers also participate in a food drive. Shriver said there was more canned food brought in this year than in previous years.

"You just don't know with it being COVID and people struggling," she said. "I'm genuinely impressed the kids brought in as much as they did."

The newest addition to Asotin's festive celebrations is a holiday bingo.

Shriver and Kelly Brady brought the idea to Brendan Johnson after Brady saw a similar activity at a doctor's office. They made adjustments to the bingo to fit the school and turned it into a competition.

"Our staff is a little competitive," Shriver said.

Staff members can earn bingos by participating in different activities such as wearing a Santa hat all day, bringing cookies to the staff lounge, decorating a classroom door, or bringing or making an ornament for the tree in the library. Some of the activities involve the students and collaboration with other classrooms, like snowballing another classroom or office by throwing wadded up pieces of paper into the room.

Prizes added an extra motivator to the holiday spirit and after a bingo is complete, staff members can put their name in a drawing for various prizes. Blackout bingos are entered into a separate drawing.

Johnson said one of the reasons for doing the bingo was to boost morale among the teachers because of the difficulty staff and students have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the event was meant to be for the staff, the festivities ended up including the students.

"It wasn't our intention that the kids were going to be a part of it, but they all know about the holiday bingo and try to help," Shriver said.

Some students asked if they can decorate a door or help snowball a classroom to participate in the event.

"It just really included the kids too," Shriver said, "and I think they kinda needed that festive spirit as well. That was a trickle-down effort that we didn't anticipate."

The bingo began Dec. 6 and will continue through Friday. Shriver said they wondered if two weeks was too long but it ended up allowing more time for staff members to participate within their schedules.

"For me and Kelly both, it's not necessarily about winning, it's just about including everybody and getting them out of the classroom a little bit and feeling festive and connected," Shriver said. "I think we needed a connection this year."

The holiday event is in its first year and Johnson said he hopes to make it an annual tradition.

"It's been fun and the staff seem to be enjoying it," he said.

In the future, the holiday bingo can be part of the already established coin wars and food drive.

"I think it's helping us get through the last few days before break," Shriver said. "We need a break."

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.