Pies in the Principal's Face

It's not every day that students get to smash whipped cream pies in the face of their principal.

So, you can imagine the sheer excitement and joy — students were standing up and jumping around, shouting and screaming — when six students and two teachers got a chance to throw some pies in the face of Inglewood Elementary School Principal Orlando Taylor.

"I'm no longer hungry," said Taylor, speaking through a whipped-cream-covered face and wiping whipped cream from his goggles. "I'm going to go take a shower."

The fun on Thursday afternoon was the result of the students' successes in selling lots of pies through the Market Day fundraiser.

Market Day is an online fundraising program where profits are given to the school when shoppers make online grocery purchases at www.MarketDay.com. Every order earns Inglewood up to 20 percent for its home and school association.

"It's a fundraiser to help raise money for our school," said home and school association Market Day coordinator Kim Simon. "Back in November, we had a pie contest with Market Day and the kids who sold pies got their names put into a drawing to win a pie in the face toss. We’re doing another one in March."  

According to its website, Market Day has been around since 1975. It has raised more than $460 million for children and communities.

Shoppers choose an organization it wants to support, then shop the monthly items at MarketDay.com. The order is placed and picked up at the monthly sale at the school.

The students who sold the most pies through Market Day were eligible to have their names put into a drawing to hit Taylor with a pie. Names were picked at random, and the students got to throw a pie in Taylor's face at a schoolwide assembly in the gymnasium.

"It's a lot of fun and for a good cause." Taylor said. "I feel good because everyone had fun. We all saw how we can build up a community and do fun things. It was a way for us to  have some fun and raise some funds." 

When Taylor woke up Thursday morning, he thought about what to wear to work.

"Maybe a suit might not be the best thing," he joked.