Sussex Academy sixth graders raised more than $3,400 for Water for South Sudan, an annual fundraiser conducted in conjunction with their study of the book “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park.

Several years ago, current freshman Grier Lawson proposed the sixth grade join the Iron Giraffe Challenge while reading the book. The challenge raises money for Water for South Sudan, a nonprofit organization founded by the book’s protagonist, Salva Dut.

That first year, students raised almost $2,000, an amount that has grown each year and resulted in the construction of a well in South Sudan that is engraved with Sussex Academy’s name.

The fundraiser is in two parts; one is an external online donation and the other is Pie in the Face Day, when staff volunteer to take a whipped-cream-and-sprinkles pie in the face. Students buy $1 tickets for a random chance to pie the employee in the face.

On March 16, staff donned their trash bags, shower caps, goggles and other protective gear and gathered in the school multipurpose room to await their turn for a student’s name to be pulled from a cup, winning the chance to pie that adult in the face.

Sussex Academy staff members who signed up to receive a pie in the face for a good cause are Amy Adamcik, Kyle Bentley, Deon Brunskill, Nico Caceres, Michael Campanese, Jon English, Dawnyel Furlong, Stephanie Hartsoe, Mindy Hete, Rachael Johnston, Nikki Kaczmarczyk, Stacy Lawson, Jessica Love and Samantha Melvin.