Easy as Pie

The e-mail was simple enough: 

"Pardon the subject line, Brian. Our PTOs and PTAs from all the elementaries are doing a carnival next Friday, starting at 5:30. They are wondering if you would take a 20-minute shift and get pied in the face. Jane and I are doing the other 40 minutes. I can scare up another victim if you can't. Let us know when you can. Happy First Day. Kate (Retzel)" 

I stared at that e-mail because I wasn't sure how to respond. Truth be told, no one has ever asked me that question before. I sat with that e-mail for a while. 

As I thought about it more, I realized I wanted to do it. I double checked the Ricca Family Calendar, and it was clear. My response was concise: 

"Thank you for your patience - I'm in!" And as soon as I sent it, I thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" I've never had a pie in the face. Truth be told, I've never had anything thrown in my face. I'm usually pretty put-together, so this was going to push my boundaries. 

Friday arrives, and after school, I begin to wonder what this will look like. How messy is it going to get? Who will really want to pie the new guy? Will anyone even show up for this? 

The first few minutes were pretty slow, but then one kiddo got it going. No big deal. Then a couple more. Finally, there was some traction. At one point, three kiddos pied me at once! It was in my hair, in my ears, and in my nose...

With the help of Will Smith, when it was all said and done, I got cleaned up and headed home. I took a very long shower and reflected on my first pie-in-the-face experience. Pretty quickly, I realized, I would do it again. 

However, it didn't mean anything more to me until I sat down at lunch the following Monday with some of the elementary students. A handful came up to me, delighted that they had put a pie in my face. I showed their friends the pictures. Lots of smiles and tales of what they did to the new superintendent. 

Since I'm still new to SBRSD, I am here to learn and grow with our students, faculty, staff, families, and community. This is a very special place, I can already tell that. There's still so much I don't know that I'm curious about. I want to listen. I want to discover more. I want to be a part of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District. 

Even if it means taking a pie (or two) to the face.