Regis Faculty & Staff Take the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Members of the faculty and staff at Regis High School showed their support for the battle against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease, by taking the Ice Bucket Challenge in the Regis Quadrangle. The challenge took place on the afternoon of September 19th after students and faculty returned from the annual Regis field trip to Bear Mountain.

Regis was nominated for the challenge by Fordham Preparatory (Bronx, NY) as part of a broad challenge to the faculty at all Jesuit high schools throughout the United States. Regis, in turn, reiterated that challenge to any of those Jesuit high schools who have yet to participate.

Mr. Alan Garcia, Dean of Student Recruiting and Admissions for the REACH Program, led the challenge for Regis. A swarm of students helped dump the ice water on the faculty and staff volunteers. In addition to their participation in the challenge, members of the Regis faculty and staff collected donations that will be sent to ALSA on behalf of Regis High School.

Following the group participation, Dr. Gary Tocchet, Principal of Regis High School, took the challenge as well. Dr. Tocchet was late in returning to Regis from the Bear Mountain outing, but he did not let that prevent him from taking part in the spirit of the event. Two elated Regians gleefully volunteered to dump the ice water on their Principal’s head (video below).

According to the ALS Association, approximately 5,600 people are diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis every year. To learn more about ALS or to donate to ALS research, please visit www.alsa.org.

Above: Dr. Gary Tocchet, Principal of Regis High School, takes the Ice Bucket Challenge after returning from the annual Regis outing to Bear Mountain.

Above: Regis faculty and staff volunteers—a group that included two Jesuit priests and one Oratorian—participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge. Photo courtesy Vincenzo Guido ’16.

Above: Regis Principal Dr. Gary Tocchet fearlessly withstands the downpour of ice water in the Regis Quadrangle. Photo courtesy Vincenzo Guido ’16.