HOULTON, Maine — High school principals and superintendents can sometimes be perceived as intimidating people who only dole out discipline.
Administrators from Houlton and Hodgdon middle-high schools broke that mold Friday as they willingly each took a pie to the face for a good cause.
RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Halliday and Houlton Middle-High School Principal Tim Tweedie were joined by SAD 70 Superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick and Hodgdon Middle-High School Assistant Principal Tyler Putnam for the event, which served as a fundraiser for the Houlton and Hodgdon JMG programs, as well as the student council for both schools.
It was the brainchild of Jason Little and Heather Quimby, JMG specialists for Hodgdon and Houlton, respectively. Little said at first it was only going to be the principals for the two schools involved, but when Fitzpatrick learned of the event he wanted both himself and Halliday to be involved.
“We thought it would be something fun for the students to do during these trying times,” Quimby said. “The admins were very supportive throughout.”
To further that good sportsmanship, both administrative teams wore basketball jerseys from the opposing schools.
An online fundraiser, the campaign saw people pledge money to have one of the schools pied, or their own school’s team pied.
“It was interesting to see some Hodgdon people pledge to protect their own, but some [Hodgdon] people actually wanted to see their own team pied,” Little said. “It was really fun to watch how that was going.”
As luck would have it, the donations ended in a tie, with both schools raising $867 for a total of $1,734 to be split between the four programs.
“I think there is always a little bit of apprehension when you have to take a pie in the face,” Tweedie said. “But it was all for a good cause and I was confident we would beat [Hodgdon].”
Tweedie added the best part of the fundraising event was seeing the two schools come together to support four groups of students.
“It’s awesome and I think the greater Houlton-Hodgdon community had a lot of fun with it,” he said.
SAD 70 Superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick (seated) gets pied by Lori Lenentine Friday afternoon as part of an online fundraiser. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
About to get a pie to the face if RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Halliday (seated) by Hodgdon student Isaac Jurson. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
Houlton Middle-High School Principal Tim Tweedie (seated) gets a pie to the face by Tyler Putnam, Hodgdon Middle-High School assistant principal, Friday afternoon. (Joseph Cyr | Houlton Pioneer Times)
