On March 20 the sun was shining in the Primary School faculty lounge, Bruno Mars’ Top Hits were playing and plastic fold-out tables were lined with Reddi Whip, rainbow sprinkles and scoops of brightly colored ice cream. The occasion was Scoops of Gratitude, an event organized by the WIS Parents Association (WISPA) to celebrate the Primary School faculty and staff.
WISPA parent representative Annie Breaux spearheaded the event, partnering with local business Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream and working closely with its owners to provide teachers with a sweet celebration to thank them in the days before spring break.
“There [were] scoops of ice cream, a sundae bar, a mystery flavor guessing game with raffle prizes and a contest to submit your own custom ice cream flavor creation,” Breaux said.
36 teachers tried to guess the mystery flavor (later revealed to be cherry blossom), and six teachers guessed it right. This earned them either a six-scoop flight or a 40-flavor sampling at Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream.
The business’s co-founder, Annie Park, was in attendance at the event. Whenever Park wasn’t replenishing the rows of ice cream cups, she was busy explaining the wholesome story behind the mother-daughter business.
“Everything that we do is pretty much the handmade recipes that my mom used when we were growing up,” Park said.
The business now operates several stores around the DMV, with two in Bethesda, one in Rockville and one coming soon in D.C. However, its focus remains on keeping its products fresh.
“Most commercial ice cream that you taste is a month or two old, if not more,” Park said. “But the ice cream being served [at this event] was made within 24 hours.”
The homemade element didn’t go unnoticed, with teachers remarking on the unique, high-quality flavor of the ice cream.
“The ice cream is very authentic,” Primary School French teacher Olivia Jacquot said. “We are all very pleased!”
Jacquot was just one of many to try the ice cream, as the event was open to all teachers on the Primary School Campus.
“We brought enough to serve 80 teachers,” Park said.
Among those teachers, 23 submitted new flavor ideas in the custom flavor competition. The judges, WIS teachers Marcela Castillo, Consuelo Zuluaga and Hainey Price-Staley, voted on the winning flavor the day after the event.
“There were lots of interesting ideas and some sounded really delicious,” the judges said. “We had narrowed down to seven and then chose the winner, but two Colombian judges and a coffee lover made this the perfect pick!”
WISEL Administrative Assistant Yannin Garcia designed the winning flavor, Colombia Power, featuring coffee, cream and chocolate.
Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream will make and sell the Colombia Power ice cream in the coming months.
On April fourth, there’s a WIS half day, and they’re going to have the winning flavor [at the WIS primary school],” Breaux said.
The event’s goal, showing gratitude to teachers, ended up being fulfilled. Fifth-grade Spanish teacher Viviana Fontela remarked that the event was a way for parents to give back to the community.
“I love that the parents are showing us love, because we show their kids a bit of love every day,” Fontela said.
Some teachers even used the event as a way of bonding with other teachers amid busy schedules.
“It brought the community together,” Jacquot said.
By Tindra Jemsby and Kiran Singh
