It is a social media phenomenon that struck the entire world and it has now reached the teachers of McNeil.

September 2, the English department took on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

“We accepted the ALS challenge after we were tagged by Coach Andy Dawson, who wore the famous baseball player Lou Gehrig’s jersey number four, in honor of one of the most well known victims of the disease when he accepted the challenge,” English teacher Linda Hengst said.

ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) causes a loss of control of muscle movement, often leading patients to become completely paralyzed. The Ice Bucket Challenge started with mainly athletes, but has now passed through a range of celebrities, politicians, students and just about everyone.

“We are a very close and competitive department, so we gladly accepted being part of a challenge that also creates awareness for an important cause,” Hengst said.

There is a condition with the challenge that if it is not completed, then one has to donate to the ALS Association. However, many have done both. The influx of donations has increased tremendously due to the sudden popularity of the challenge and increased awareness of the disease. The total donations received has reached more than $100,000,000, due to the Ice Bucket Challenge.

“I think the challenge is an excellent way to bring awareness of this devastating disease to people who have never even heard of it,” Hengst said. “I have had students who have family members diagnosed with ALS and the impact on the entire family is overwhelming.”

The flood of videos of the Ice Bucket Challenge on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other sites have started to lessen as the hype has gone down and students start school. However, the challenge isn’t done with McNeil yet; the next group to complete it is the math department.

“One of the best things about the challenge is the number of people not only willing to have a bucket of ice cold water dumped on them,” Hengst said, “but the number of people who also donate money to further research for a disease about which we still have so much to learn.”

To donate to the cause and learn more about ALS, go to http://www.alsa.org/.