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HomeLocalReady for the Denver Catholic Schools Ice Bucket Challenge?

Ready for the Denver Catholic Schools Ice Bucket Challenge?

Denver Catholic schools will begin a new academic year Monday, and ice cubes will be involved.

On Friday, Superintendent Richard Thompson launched the Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Schools Ice Bucket Challenge in which he dared three school principals to “cowboy up” to the ice bucket, which we all know means getting doused with some ice water, give to ethical medical research, and pray.

The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is a social media phenomenon in which anyone with a bucket of ice water and a video recording device can document themselves getting doused with ice water and post it on a social media channel, all in the name of charity.

The way it works is that the participant makes a video challenging one or several others to either dump a bucket of ice water on their head, or give a donation to a charity. For the most part, the challenge has been used to promote awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and encourage donations to the ALS Association. To date, the campaign has generated $50 million in donations for the charity.

As Thompson explains in a video posted on YouTube Friday, the Archdiocese of Denver Catholic Schools Ice Bucket Challenge dares participants to (1) “cowboy up” to the ice bucket (2) donate to the John Paul II Medical Research Institute, and (3) engage their school community in prayer for the victims of ALS and their families.

The John Paul II Medical Research Institute, he states, focuses on the most ethical and cost-effective way of conducting medical research to help develop therapies and cures for a variety of diseases, including ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. The institute’s website notes that its research is done “with an emphasis on medical bioethics that is consistent with the dignity of human life.”

The three principals challenged by Thompson include Marc Nestorick, principal at Bishop Machebeuf High School; Tim Gallic, principal at Holy Family High School; and Mark Strawbridge, director of Catholic Schools Activities League and principal at St. Pius X Catholic School. No word yet on if these principals will rise to the challenge.

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To learn more about the John Paul II Medical Research Institute, please visit: http://www.jp2mri.org/

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