Mepham seniors, faculty team up for the troops

W.C. Mepham High School senior students in Participation in Government classes held the first Senior versus Faculty Softball Game recently. Proceeds from this charity event went to Anysoldier.com. Founded in January 2003, AnySoldier has offered support to troops overseas and arranged shipments of much-needed supplies.

Throughout the semester, the students have corresponded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and recently launched a school-wide collection drive for goods to be included in care packages for the troops stationed there. Instead of tickets being sold for the game, students, faculty members and parents were asked to bring donations for the care packages.

Rita's Italian Ices and Andrew Slattery's Virtual Enterprise classes provided refreshments. Mepham social studies teacher Stu Stein and senior John Coen served as the announcers for the game, providing humorous commentary. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by Mepham class of 2004 graduate Mike Geller, who is a Marine and has served two tours of duty in Iraq. Geller also spoke with the Participation in Government classes about his experiences and provided helpful insight as to what the troops would like to receive in their care packages.

The game was close, with the faculty leading through the seventh inning. In the bottom of the seventh, senior Kurt Hudik drove in the winning run, and the seniors came out on top, 6-5, over the faculty.