A sticky situation at Parsons School
Fifth-graders taste the sweet life during Fear Factor Fun Day
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

DENNIS SYMONS JR.

Candy worms, applesauce, whipped cream and diluted strawberry syrup don’t seem like an appealing combination for lunch.

For the graduating fifth-graders at Parsons Elementary School, North Brunswick, on Monday, they wouldn’t have asked for anything else.

The students were treated to Fear Factor Fun Day on Monday courtesy of the Fifth Grade Sendoff Committee.

Students participated in a variety of clean and wholesome activities, such as:

• Pulling different colored chips out of a bean and corn mix. White chips entitled the kids to throw whipped cream pies at someone else, red chips were to get pied and blue chips were to pie yourself.

DENNIS SYMONS JR.

• Eating chocolate or vanilla pudding with gummy worms without using any hands.

• Laying on the floor with a water bottle over their mouth as their partner poured diluted syrup into the bottle.

• Feeding each other applesauce with their eyes closed so as not to see where their partner’s mouth was.

• Tossing marshmallows in each other’s mouths.

• Running tied together in a three-legged race.

“I like to pie people in the face. I got to pie my friend, Evan. It felt mushy and cold,” said Kashon Davis.

“It was fun chasing people and pieing them,” said Jared Liebmann. “And the applesauce tastes really good. It got in my nose and my eye.”

“I didn’t like the pudding because my friend pushed my face in it to eat it,” said Siheira Norman. “It was cold and sticky. Now I can’t move my face.”

The school decided to have the committee organize the yearly sendoff event this year instead of hiring its usual commercial company.

“For the money we used to spend, this worked out. We do fund-raisers all year long and then we have a dance at the end of the year. We raised about $3,000. We even bought them subs for lunch,” said Laura Rosenberg, committee member and principal clerk for the Department of Parks, Recreation & Community Services.

“They are going to go inside and be on a sugar high or throw up for the rest of the day, they’ve eaten so much,” said fifth-grade teacher Mark Amatucci.

Some of the students would have liked to see the activities more closely model the popular reality television show “Fear Factor.”

“I wanted to bring in a coffin full of rats, but we couldn’t,” said Rosenberg.

“I liked eating the gummies with the pudding,” said Arushi Gulati. “But I would’ve wanted ants in there. Not real ants. Maybe chocolate.”

“I wish there was a stunt swimming pool where we could hold our breath,” said Saad Khalid.

A main purpose of the event was to give the children a feel for their first year in middle school.

“The students were grouped randomly, not according to their class. Since they’re going to Linwood next year, we wanted to mix them up,” said Principal Bruce Rothenberg.

The students have mixed feelings about moving on to a new school.

“I am going to miss gym and the good teachers,” said Joseph Carrillo.

“I am looking forward to lockers, changing classes, and the food is better,” said Dre DiMura.

“At Linwood I want to do a lot of sports. I want to play basketball,” said Brittni Washington. “I have a lot of people at Linwood, but I have been here since kindergarten.”

Chance Gadsden laughs after getting a pie in his face during Fear Factor Fun Day at Parsons Elementary School, North Brunswick, on Monday.

Bartosz Budak (l) and Rahil Gohel try to keep from falling during the three-legged race at Fear Factor Fun Day at Parsons Elementary on Monday.