JFK Elementary School Physical Education Teachers Complete Ice Bu

It was a cool, overcast spring morning but that was not about to stop JFK Elementary School physical education teachers from their mission. They had promised their students that if they did 30,000 “Crunches for Chemo” in the month of March, each teacher would have a five-gallon bucket of ice water poured over their heads.

Physical education teachers Eric Buzzetto and Jen Hershman give their students a challenge each month and reward them for meeting the challenge by doing something wild like jumping in a lake, smashing mashed potatoes in their faces or having snowballs thrown at them.

This month, Buzzetto and Hershman were inspired by second grader Madison Johnson and her mom Melissa. Since Madison was just one year old, they have been creating “chemo bags” for people going through chemotherapy in order to bring them comfort and hope. The bags are delivered to infusion centers in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties.

“We wanted to raise awareness that one of our own students is doing a great thing for people going through tough times,” Buzzetto said. “We have had many staff members go through chemo in recent years and thought it would be great to help this cause out.”

Madison and her mom were there that morning and spoke to JFK students via livestream before the celebratory bucket dump. They even brought a sample bag to show students what goes inside. The bags include things like blankets, hand sanitizer, lotion, word searches, journals, hand-drawn cards, items people in the community have donated and more.

March’s bags also included a special message that explained JFK’s challenge and said “These kids might be small, but they are mighty! They have the strength and perseverance to overcome great challenges and YOU do, too! Stay strong!”

Students loved this challenge and Buzzetto and Hershman wanted to make it even more exciting by allowing the whole school to watch the event live.

“Like every month, students love the idea of us getting some sort of punishment when they complete a challenge,” Buzzetto said. “It's just nice to see the whole school and parents get behind an event again in these strange times. It really brings the school together.”

When it came time to dump the ice buckets over Buzzetto, Hershman and student teacher Summer Breidenbach, special guests were on hand. Superintendent Dr. Laurie Bandlow, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Michelle Gosh and Athletic Director Dean Berardo were there to dump the buckets. JFK cancer survivors Kathy Brower, Crystal DiGiovanni, Sue Fox, Megan Gersch, Lisa Hopf and Beth Mazzei also came outside to watch.

“I am so proud of this community,” Johnson said. “So many rallied behind the mission this year. Many members of the community donated knitted or hand-painted items, cards, port pillows, inspiring tea boxes and more. One local woman filled up the back of her car and followed me so we could deliver bags to infusion centers. I want the kids that took part in Crunches for Chemo to know that as they pushed through the challenge that was given to them, they inspired others to do the same. They reminded others to persevere and not give up.”

You can watch video from the livestream here.