RMHS DECA members Lily Weaver (‘29), Zana Jeleskovic (‘29), and Julia Silva (‘29) created the RMHS Pie a Teacher fundraiser, where students nominated teachers and donated money to reach goals to pie each teacher. The students began collecting donations in October and continued until the end of November when teachers were pied at the Thanksgiving pep rally. They raised a total of $1000 to donate to the Lombardo Legacy and Joe Andruzzi foundations. Both foundations support families going through cancer treatments.
A DECA Project
DECA is a non- profit international business club for high school and college students that prepares them for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. DECA Club advisor Ms. Rosenfield explained, “It is an opportunity for students to interact with business content in a professional way and network with students from around the globe. They get to choose a category of their choice, and interact with judges or professionals in a live action setting.” These three students chose to center their project around a community giving focus where they select a charity and organize fundraising and support towards it. Ms. Rosenfield added, “They chose Julia’s uncle’s foundation. Sadly, her uncle passed away from cancer, I love that the three of them chose something that hit close to home for them. So, everything that they raised goes to this charity, and then they report on how they managed the project, how they manage money, how they managed employees in their case, the three of them, how they organized, how they marketed the event, and they did an amazing job.”
The Pie a Teacher fundraiser began on social media. After creating an instagram account for their project, the students posted a poll where students could nominate teachers they wanted to get pied. The more nominations a teacher got, the higher amount of funds raised it took for them to be pied. Starting at $100 raised was Mr. Caprioli, then Mr. Hyland, Mr. Cabanas, Ms. Zurbrick, Mr. Skeffington, Mr. Mahoney, Ms. Speziale, Mr. Debenedictis, Mr.Bosco, and the final goal of $1000 to pie assistant principal, Mrs. Buckley. Mrs. Buckley is always a willing participant when it comes to student run initiatives. During the campaign she said, “I’m happy to help. Like, I have no problem with being pied in the face. And I’m also happy that we’re raising money for a good cause, but at the same time, do I want to be pie in the face? No.” Receiving over one hundred donations, the students exceeded their $1000 goal. Each one of the nominated teachers were pied at the Thanksgiving Pep rally, where students watched and cheered.
The Beneficiary
The Lombardo Legacy is where all the proceeds of the Pie A Teacher project will be going. It is a fund started by Silva’s family after the passing of her uncle Michael Lombardo in July of 2024. This fund is an extension of the Joe Andruzzi fund which Michael had been a board member of prior to his passing, any and all donations to the Lombardo Legacy are passed on to the Joe Andruzzi Fund, Silva explained, “My uncle came face to face with cancer twice. While facing treatment, he learned about the Joe Andruzzi Fund and he was instantly inspired by the foundation’s mission.”
The Joe Andruzzi Fund is a New England non profit organization that provides financial assistance to cancer patients and their families regarding non medical expenses surrounding this hard time in their lives. The foundation regularly offers grants for household expenses such as rent, food, transportation and utilities. Throughout his treatment Michael spent lots of time raising money and donating to the Joe Andruzzi Fund. Despite Michales hard fight with cancer he never stopped helping others, “My favorite thing about being a JAF board member is my ability to make a real impact. I am honored to be a part of something so positive in this world, and I will not take that lightly.” Lombardo had said on his website. Through this project Silva, Weaver and Jeleskovic are carrying on Michael’s legacy in a positive way, and sharing his impact with the RMHS community.
A Winning Project
These students attended DECA districts on Monday December 8th, they competed against fifteen other schools, and the top four in each event moved on. The group placed within the top four which qualifies them to attend DECA State Career Development conference which will be taking place in Boston in mid March. If they have what it takes, which Mrs. Rosenfield confidently believes when she argues “Their project has what it takes… Their project is extremely detailed. They raised over $1,000. They’re passionate. They organized multiple events, including having a Patriots alumni come to speak to school, as well as the Pie a Teacher event. So I really, really hope that they place and they deserve it.”
With continued success at the State Development Conference they could get the chance to attend the International Career Development Conference in Orlando Florida taking place in mid April.
