Ice Bucket Challenge Freezes OHS

The “Ice Bucket Challenge” swept the nation this summer and made the awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) massive.

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a challenge where people throw a bucket of ice onto their heads to raise awareness for ALS. They are supposed to take a video of themselves dumping the ice water onto themselves and post on social media. Along with the challenge, they challenge three other people to participate. If someone fails to, they are suppose donate $100 to ALS.

ALS, commonly referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”, is a progressive disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons begin there and continue throughout the muscles in the body. When the motor neurons die, it is impossible for the people affected’s brain to send messages to their muscles to make them move. For people who have had the disease for a long time, they become completely paralyzed and eventually their bodies break down, and the disease leads to death.

Not many people had heard of this disease, until this summer when the Ice Bucket Challenge made its way around the US. It progressively made its way to St. Louis, and is now making its way through OHS.

The school has helped raise awareness for the cause through the challenge. Teachers are challenging other teachers, departments other departments, and students other students.

The English department took on the challenge early on, and nominated the math and science departments. Within twenty-four hours, the math teachers rounded up and took it on in ANP on Friday, August blank.

Mrs. Tammy Popp, the head of the OHS math department, spoke for all of the teachers before getting the water poured on their heads. The challenge particularly hit Mrs. Popp close to home.

“Having a relative die of ALS and watching them waste away is so so sad,” Popp said of her late grandmother.

Mrs. Popp said that her grandma had a form of ALS that affected her jaw, and she basically ended up starving to death within a three year period.

Mr. Patrick Schrappen spoke for the OHS science department during their challenge. He thinks it is a great idea because it brings attention to a disease that few know about.

According to the ALS website, the Ice Bucket Challenge is working. From July 29 to Aug. 27, ALS raised 94.3 million dollars towards the cause. In comparison to last year during the same time period, ALS only raised 2.7 million.