I'm very grateful for the parents in the community supporting the school, and if it means I get pies in the face while wearing a humiliating costume, it's a small price to pay to keep them on the path towards academic excellence.”

Principal Tim Sullivan

At the start of each school year, St. Elizabeth Anne Seton School (SEAS) holds their biggest fundraiser. 100 percent of the funds raised during this event go directly to the school for their operating costs. This fundraiser gives students the opportunity to win prizes donated from local businesses along with other incentives for money raised. The goal of the fundraiser was to reach $37,500 and they beat that, fairly handily with the initial report.
Students were awarded a ticket for the drawing for the various dollar amounts raised. Those tickets were used as entries for the five grand prizes: $100 Amazon gift card, Apple Air Pods, Hoverboard, Lego Basket and a Sports Fun Basket.
The first week of the fundraiser gave students an opportunity to win “out of uniform passes”. These passes allow the student to wear something to school other than their approved uniforms.
The second week had two incentives, the first was double ticket week and the second was the top class won a DQ Ice Cream Party.
The final week was triple ticket week for the grand prize drawing.
The event culminated with a marathon day where all the students walked from the school to the Levee Park downtown. There the all-student picture was taken and then the students walked back. While the students were gone on the walk, staff and volunteers set up the refreshments for the quick celebration of reaching their goal.
Along with the refreshments, Principal Tim Sullivan was mentally preparing himself to have a plethora of pies thrown at him by students.
“I'm very grateful for the parents in the community supporting the school, and if it means I get pies in the face while wearing a humiliating costume, it's a small price to pay to keep them on the path towards academic excellence,” quipped Sullivan.
His demeanor was both lighthearted, excited and while he would not admit it, nervous while he looked at the pile of whipped cream pies being created by Kelly Hendrickson.
“The Office staff presented costume options to the students, and then they all chose the minions. So thus, the costume,” Sullivan explained. “They also decided that there should be multiple toppings, and I'm told that Kelly is the one who will be putting together the pies. Based on the last time we did this; she does not go easy on the pies. They are well stocked. [insert nervous look at the pie prep] I don't know what I've done to her, but I think she's been with us for eight years now…”
He then explained the order of the celebration. When the kids return, they grabbed their belongings as if they were done with school and then assembled outside. Once everyone was there, Sullivan hyped up the group with the funds raised to that point, over $39,000 with more expected to arrive in the coming week. Then the five grand prize winners were selected and finally, the nine pie throwers, one from each grade kindergarten through eighth.
“I'm also told there might be a 10th for a staff member, so we'll see how that goes,” he said, again with a little hesitation in his voice. “Okay. But again, it's all in good fun. The kids absolutely love it. Every one of them have probably asked me if they can be one of the ones who throw the pies, except for the small handful that don't want to see me get pied, because they're very sweet kids. One little girl came up and she said, ‘I really want to make the goal, but I really don't want you to have to get pied’ I said, well, thank you. I appreciate that, but it's all in good fun.”
He continued, “The response from the community is great too. We have so many parent volunteers that have come out to help set up the food, the crossing guards to make sure they're walking with the kids. We also enjoyed that today is the feast of St Francis of Assisi, who is a patron saint of pets. So, a lot of people brought their dogs and other animals to walk along with. So, it's a lot of fun, and plus, it's such a beautiful walk to go down to the downtown Hastings area, and it's not that far right on the river. It's a beautiful day.”
The students had a blast cheering for the grand prize winners, but the real star of the show were the pie throwers. Of the nine that tossed a pie, only two missed drawing a chorus of “AWWWE”, the ones that hit caused the students to erupt with cheers. The best one of course being the last one. Eighth grader Thomas Kummer was ready to throw his pie while Principal Sullivan sat there with a mostly clean face.
Not one of the previous kids hit him directly in the face and he knew that was an important part of the fun, so he coaxed Thomas to step up and just smash his pie, which was the largest of them all, directly in his face. Poor Thomas looked a bit apprehensive if not even a little worried about cheating, but he was assured it was ok and boom, the pie hit Mr. Sullivan right in the kisser. The crowd exploded with cheers and that concluded the day.
“We need to thank Walmart, Dairy Queen, all of the Hastings businesses that donated to the food and everything for today, SEASPA, the parent organization that donated a prize, the Hastings Catholic Education Foundation, who donated prizes for the big school and over at the preschool for their piece today, and it's just nice. Anytime the community could come together, especially at a time when there's so many things, driving us apart. It's a beautiful thing. We're so grateful,” Sullivan said.
If you would like to add to the donation total, call 651-437-3098.