BENTONVILLE -- Michael Poore arrived at Lincoln Junior High School dressed more appropriately for a business meeting than an encounter with five buckets of ice water.
Poore, the School District's superintendent, took a seat arranged for him Wednesday afternoon in front of the school and became the latest to accept the Ice Bucket Challenge to increase awareness of ALS. He wore a black suit and tie, though he also went barefoot.
At A Glance
ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. About 5,600 people in the United States are diagnosed with ALS each year. About 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. The life expectancy of an ALS patient averages between two and five years from the time of diagnosis.
Source: ALS Association, www.alsa.org
A few hundred Lincoln eighth-graders looked on. They counted down from 10 before four students and one staff member dumped their buckets of water on Poore.
"I had envisioned worse," said Poore, moments after the dousing. "I had made it worse in my head."
In fact, it could have been worse. One student fumbled his bucket just as he went to poor it on Poore. His water fell harmlessly onto the concrete.
Poore received high-fives from several students and even a hug from at least one other.
Jennifer Necessary, executive director of the ALS Association's Arkansas chapter, attended the event. She explained to students what ALS is.
"It is a degenerative muscle disease," Necessary said. "It kills all of your muscles. It is a death sentence."
There are 108 ALS patients in Arkansas, including 65 in Northwest Arkansas, Necessary said.
The cost of caring for ALS patients is financially draining for their families, she said.
The Ice Bucket Challenge has taken off nationally through social media as a way to raise money for ALS. From July 29 through Wednesday, the national ALS Association received $31.5 million in donations compared to $1.9 million during the same time period last year, according to the association's website.
Poore presented a personal check to Necessary from him and his wife for the association.
As Ice Bucket Challenge participants typically do, Poore passed the challenge along. He named Dennis Vigil, a friend from Colorado Springs, Colo.; Scott Musick, a Bentonville doctor; and the entire student body and staff at Ardis Ann Middle School.
Poore had a reason for singling out that school. Ardis Larson-Cole, the school's first principal when it was called Spring Hill Middle School, died from complications of ALS in 2008. The school was renamed in Larson-Cole's honor shortly after her death.
Administrators from across the School District have accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge, according to Paul Stolt, director of communications. The first was Lincoln's principal, Jonathon Guthrie, who was challenged by Barry Lunney Jr., tight ends coach at the University of Arkansas.
NW News on 08/21/2014