24 at St. Charles take ice bucket challenge, in accord with church directives

BOARDMAN

Freezing! Shocking! Ooo-wee! Chilly!

Those are just a few reactions of staff members Friday afternoon at St. Charles School, 7325 Westview Drive, who accepted an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from Holy Family School, where an event took place earlier this week.

With a row of 24 chairs lined up in front of school, staff members took their seats and some 364 students in kindergarten through eighth grade gathered on the lawn. Motorists on U.S. Route 224 near the school, who caught the red light, also witnessed the proceedings.

Mary Welsh, St. Charles School principal, said the staff accepted a challenge from Holy Family School, where 15 teachers had taken the challenge.

Both schools will give donations to retired Boardman High School teacher Christine Moschella Terlesky, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2013. She taught for 19 years and retired Feb. 28. Her family started a Facebook page called “Chip in for Chris” and website, www.chipinforchris.com. Her story also has been featured in The Vindicator.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a motor neuron disease, first identified in 1869. The ALS Association describes it as “a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed.

The challenges at the parochial schools did not encounter any issues with the Catholic church because the funds benefit Terlesky.

Bishop George V. Murry of the Diocese of Youngstown said the diocese has “no moral problem” with people participating in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. But, he said, funds raised should benefit an ALS patiently directly, for example, for medical care and associated expenses, or be donated toward adult stem-cell research.

Read more about the challenge and the church's position in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.