Someone “dropped the baton,” quipped Bingham High’s orchestra teacher Jim Thompson.

His baton joke refers to not being given a heads-up students could donate funds to pie their favorite teacher as part of the True Blue’s closing assembly on Dec. 20, 2024. Thompson was the recipient of two pies – but without that pre-knowledge, he wasn’t wearing old clothes. 

“It was in the last four or five minutes, so I thought I was safe, but then, they got me,” he said. “It was fun and awful at the same time. I’m glad I could support them, but it was a mess. The whipping cream irritated my eyes, so I haven’t been able to wear my glasses all day, I got cut in the head from the tin and I’m wearing this Bingham football shirt since I didn’t have a change of clothes.”

Even so, he was glad he was pied for the good cause — $85,741 was split between the Kari Sue Hamilton School and Make-a-
Wish Utah.  

“I’m proud of the students for wanting to give of themselves to support others,” Thompson said. λ