Michael Sweet, science lab teacher for third, fourth and fifth grades, gets hit with a whipped cream pie during the last day of school festivities at Carman Elementary Friday, June 3, 2022 in San Juan. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])
SAN JUAN — Sprinting faster than her legs could carry her, 11-year-old Khloe Camarillo wielded a pie as she dashed toward her principal Gisela Salinas Ramirez. With a splatter of whipped cream and “oooh” from the crowd, the atmosphere was filled with as much joy as Ramirez’s face was covered in dessert topping.
Camarillo ran back to her spot with a mischievous smile on her face, knowing she had just ended her school year on a sweet note.
This was a common sight here Friday morning inside the Edith and Ethel Carman Elementary School gymnasium where third, fourth and fifth graders lined up to throw pies at the faculty in celebration of the school year coming to a close.
Ramirez said she was looking for a way to motivate students after challenging school years marked by at-home learning due to the pandemic, and found it by creating the incentive that would resonate with any child: throwing food at their teachers.
“They have been through a lot of challenges the past two years and despite all the challenges and obstacles that they faced, they still persevered and met their goal academically,” Ramirez said. “So this is an end of the year celebration not only for them meeting their STAAR goal but also for everything that they’ve gone through.”
For educator Michael Sweet, who teaches science lab, learning that students wanted to pie him even more than the principal was literally bittersweet.
“Oh, I knew I was. I always get picked for stuff like this,” Sweet said with a nervous laugh. “I feel loved or I don’t know, it depends on who they pick to throw the pie at my face.”
When the idea of throwing pies at teachers was first announced to the students, Sweet remembered the excitement in their voices as they began choosing who they wished to target.
“They were like, ‘I’m gonna get so and so,’ they already knew who they were going to pick. They already had a plan,” Sweet said with a laugh.
Students sat along the walls of the gym cheering with excitement as they watched their teachers and principal prepare to get pied. Fourteen cans of whipped cream sat at the ready.
In a row of chairs, the faculty sat with goggles and ponchos bracing for impact.
“Eye of the Tiger” was played for both comedic and motivational effect as students lined up to receive a plate with cream.
Nine-year-old Zoe Robles was the first to choose who she wanted to pie.
“I’m gonna throw it real hard,” Robles said menacingly.
Teachers stood with smiles on their faces as they watched their students laughing and shouting as whipped cream splashed across the floor behind each educator who was hit with a pie. Sweet and Ramirez were often the chosen targets.
By the time it was the fourth graders’ turn, Sweet’s face and hair were no longer visible and instead caked in white; meanwhile, a messy pile of plates laid before him.
“We are closing out the school year on a good note; that way this is something they’ll take with them in the summer and they will remember as they grow older,” Ramirez said. “We are trying to give them happy memories and focus on the good things.”
