High school students gathered in the auditorium to gleefully watch Jacob Torsiello, a favorite social studies teacher, get drenched with ice water by colleague Erik Novack on Friday, May 2.

RHS Key Club hosted the Ice Bucket Challenge event to raise money for Saint Baldrick’s, a foundation that seeks cures for childhood cancers. “The ice bucket challenge came to be when we realized that, as a club, we wanted to make a strong and cohesive impact on society,” junior Ashley Silvestri said. “We wanted to host an event that would be both fun for the students and staff, while also spreading awareness and raising money for a disease that affects so many individuals across the world: cancer.”

During homeroom, students first nominated five of their favorite teachers to take the challenge: Gina Adickes, Brian Hoesly, Cara Canfield, Novack and Torsiello. For two weeks, Key Club representatives scoured the high school hallways with metal buckets, each featuring a picture of one of the five nominated teachers, to collect money for the charity. At the end of the two-week period, the teacher’s bucket containing the most money determined that Torsiello would be the one to take on the icy cold challenge.

“When I was presented the opportunity to volunteer for the Ice Bucket Challenge, I figured, well one, it’s for an incredible cause, and two, I’m really big on building a school community,” Torsiello said. “I thought that advocating and donating some of my time to help donate for an even greater cause would bring more people together.”

The event took place during the halftime show at the Quiz Bowl Tournament, which was also being held in the auditorium. The crowd cheered as Torsiello approached the stage and Novack geared up to dump the ice water on his friend and colleague’s head.

“I didn’t know what to expect walking into the auditorium, but it was really funny to see my old history teacher get iced,” sophomore Eliana Chmielowiec said.