There was no shortness of excitement at Edgewood Elementary School in Selma Friday.

The student body and faculty crowded into the cafeteria for a moment they had been anticipating for weeks….the sliming of principal Joe Peterson and bookkeeper Tracey Estes.

The day began with a pep rally to prepare students for state testing, which begins next week, and allowed students to pat themselves on the back for a job well done during the Jump Rope for Hearts fundraiser.

Though he got a little dirty in the process, Peterson said he was more than willing to take on a little slime to let his students know he cares.

“We want to let the students know we are behind them 200 percent,” he said. “We had a lot of support from the community and that helped too.”

Estes agreed, saying she was extremely excited to help.

“Anything we can do to motivate the kids,” she said. “It was all worth it to do whatever we can to get the kids to do what they need to do.”

Volunteers from Elkdale Baptist Outreach and others along with the Concordia College drumline came together to help make the event even more memorable for the students.

The top two student fundraisers and top teacher were given the opportunity to put a pie in Peterson and Estes’ faces. The teachers applied the slime.

Student JaMichael Goings raised $50 and Courtney Tabb raised $34 for the Jump Rope for Hearts program.

Tratina Little made a $30 donation, which gave her the chance to slime Estes.

Pre-K teacher Edwina Smith’s class raised the most as a unit, which gave her the chance to slime Peterson.

Overall, the school raised $2,306.12, which topped last year’s $1,799.34. Peterson said the agreement was he would be slimed if they topped the 2010 number.

When that goal was reached, Peterson said there was no hesitation.

“Our children have so many obstacles out there,” he said. “It was important for us to come together and help motivate them to get over those obstacles and do something positive. It really does take a village.”