On Sept. 12, 14 staff members at Sanchez Elementary School took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to support former Sanchez teacher Hortensia Montoya, who has ALS. She was present with some of her family members as the ice rained down on the heads of her colleagues.
As part of the school’s annual Jog-a-Thon fundraiser, students at Sanchez also raised $800 for the ALS Association in Montoya’s name.
ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gherig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, according to the ALS Association, which in turn affects voluntary muscle action. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to death.
Through the ice bucket challenge, the ALS Association had received $113.3 million in ice bucket challenge donations as of Sept. 15. The association is currently funding close to 100 active research projects, as it tries to figure out treatments and a cure for the disease.
Each class at Sanchez had a goal of collecting $500 in donations for the jog-a-thon; if they did, they’re teacher agreed to take part in the ice bucket challenge. If more than $500 was raised separately for the ALS Association, the principal of the school agreed to have ice water dumped on him. Adults who participated in Sanchez’s version of the ice bucket challenge stood on the grass so no water was wasted.
Montoya taught in the district for more than 10 years, and she taught first grade at Sanchez for three years.
The Jog-a-Thon raised $14,500 for student field trips.
This article appears in Sep 18-25, 2014.
