Every Thursday, hundreds of WIS students line up for Pizza Day, one of WIS’s most beloved traditions. What many students and staff don’t understand is that Pizza Day takes a lot of effort and coordination from the cast of WIS parent volunteers that manage the weekly event.

Although there is a lot of excitement surrounding Pizza Day, the average WIS student is unlikely to know much about it, beyond what toppings to get on their couple of slices. Pizza Day, is, in fact, a complicated operation. The first step in the pizza-planning process for Pizza Day workers is to calculate how many students are going to be in the school for each Thursday, and order the appropriate amount of food.

“In a typical week, when all Middle School and Upper School students are on campus Thursday during lunchtime, our pizza order costs approximately $900,” Jessica Lerner, WIS Parent and Pizza Day organizer, said. “We order less pizza and therefore the cost is lower when we know that some students will be away, on a field trip, for example. We normally spend an additional $100 to $150 on drinks.” 

$900 a week may seem like a hefty price for WIS to pay, but, with students paying $2 a slice and also paying for drinks and donated baked goods (which represent no cost to WIS), every Pizza Day generates profit, which all comes back to the school.

“Depending on how many students and faculty buy the pizza, drinks and desserts, our weekly profit ranges from from $150 to $300”, Lerner said. This weekly sum totals to an annual profit of $9,000, which the WIS Parents Association (WISPA) then manages, often putting it use to support student programs like clubs and fundraisers.

However, a key aspect of Pizza Day that Lerner mentions is that, for the WIS parent volunteers, Pizza Day isn’t about making money for the school, but more about the day’s value to student and staff members of the WIS community.

And thanks to the parent volunteers, Pizza Day has remained a long-lasting tradition at WIS and become ingrained in WIS culture. “I only eat lunch from school on Thursdays and Fridays (grill), because I think the food is really good” Lucas Brudniak, WIS student, said, describing Pizza Day’s options for different drinks, snacks, and of course slices of pizza.

But Pizza Day’s value to the WIS community doesn’t just stop at the food. WIS students also claim that Pizza Day is a really good time to socialize. “I love Pizza Day, not just ‘cause of the food, but also because it’s a good time to talk to your friends, because you know everyone is gonna be there in the student center,” WIS student Diego Maldonado said.

Whether kids are running to the student center to outcompete others in line every Thursday or fiercely debating about what the right choice for pizza is; Boli’s or Vace’s, it remains clear that WIS would not be the same without Pizza Day.