DEERING — With temperatures in the 90s on Friday 10 people gathered in the parking lot at Dawson-Bryant Elementary and had ice water poured on their heads. It most likely cooled them off, but that wasn’t the reason it happened.

“I was challenged and I agreed to do it,” Angie LaFon, Dawson-Bryant Elementary principal, said, “but I said if I am going to do it I’m going to do it in front of the students.”

What the students saw was LaFon and nine other employees of the Dawson-Bryant School District participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge, an activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone’s head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations for research.

LaFon was joined by Dawson-Bryant Superintendent Steve Easterling, secretaries Barb Carey and Tracy Kelley, assistant principal Michelle Dillow, secretary Bambi Johnson, speech therapist Nikki Lambiotte, IT specialist Jason Dickess, school nurse Jennifer Blankenship and third-grade teacher Bev Harmon. Kelley is the person who challenged LaFon.

Third-grader Lily Schneider brought in the most money, $68, which earned her the right to pour the water on LaFon. The nine other students in the top-10 fundraisers poured water on the nine other participants. In all, the students raised $670 in two days.

In keeping with Ice Bucket Challenge rules, LaFon challenged others to participate.

“I called out every principal and superintendent in Lawrence County,” she said. “They’re probably going to be mad at me.”

LaFon wasn’t about to let an opportunity to educate her students pass, however, and prior to the challenge showed a video from ESPN about what ALS is and the benefit of the Ice Bucket Challenge.

“The students need to understand the purpose of this,” she said. “It may be fun to do and fun to watch but it also raises money that is used to save lives and help people and that is the most important thing.”