We’re all wet in Canyons District – for a good cause.

Many principals, students, teachers and parents – and, yes, even Canyons’ new Superintendent, Dr. Jim Briscoe – have joined such celebrities as Justin Timberlake, Tim McGraw and Lady Gaga in the ALS Association’s “Ice Bucket Challenge.”  On Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, Dr. Briscoe joined Assistant Superintendent Bob Dowdle and School Performance Directors Mike Sirois, Alice Peck and Joanne Ackerman in completing the challenge.

They called out their counterparts in the Jordan District. Sirois said that the creation of Canyons District six years ago should be “water under the bridge … or, rather, on top of our heads.”  Dr. Briscoe, as a new school district superintendent in Utah, thanked Utah Gov. Gary Herbert for sending warm correpondence upon his arrival to  Canyons District – and then challenged the governor to do the chilly ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. 

The challenge requires the participant to pour a bucket of ice water over her or his head – and challenge others to do the same within 24 hours.  At that point, those who are “called out” can choose either to be soaked with cold water or make a donation to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

Videos and photos of people being doused in the challenge, which started July 29, have flooded social media. To date, the campaign has raised an estimated $80 million.

Alta High’s Brian McGill volunteered to complete his challenge on live TV.  Principal Charisse Hilton and her crew at Brighton High accepted the challenge from their faculty and staff. PTSA students at Corner Canyon High did the challenge in honor of a student’s father who is living with ALS. New Albion Principal Darrell Jensen and his team of administrators did it in front of a screaming middle-school crowd. Members of Union Middle’s administrative team were soaked by students during a lunch period – and they called out Mount Jordan’s principal and assistant principals. Even Hillcrest High Principal Sue Malone was called out by a member of the Utah State Legislature.

There have been countless other instances of our teachers, students, parents, principals, PTA leaders and District Office administrators doing the challenge to raise awareness and raise funds to help the ALS Association. See our Facebook for videos and photos of many more in CSD who are completing the challenge. 

There’s only one drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ALS. As a result, ALS is 100 percent fatal. In addition to acclimating to the challenges that come with losing control of voluntary muscle movement, people with the disease progressively lose their ability to eat, speak, walk, and eventually breathe, according to the association.