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Kindig, who has been Valley's front office secretary for 32 years, is suffering from a terminal condition in which she has a major tumor in her liver.
Wednesday afternoon in the high school gym, with the entire student body present, Kindig was presented with a plaque that synonymously connected the day with her name. To go along with that, students raised money to start a scholarship in Kindig's name.
A container was left in each of the high school classrooms for donations. The incentive for the students, other than paying respect to a woman who is believed to know the names of nearly every current student at TVHS, was that whichever teacher's container held the most money would have pies thrown at them during Wednesday afternoon's convocation.
"Well, it started out with a group of students," said psychology teacher Jeff Shriver, "but the psychology class headed it up. This was all student-initiated; all the work came through their efforts."
The students were rewarded with the opportunity to throw pies at faculty members Scott Bibler, Bob Dubois, Bob Scott, Principal Charles Mills and Dennis Grossnickle.
After washing the chocolate pie off his face, Dubois was asked to reflect on Kindig.
"Kay may be the most wonderful person I've ever known," he said. "She's one person I'd absolutely trust my life with. We were here before the current building was built. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her."
The students who threw the pies were chosen by way of auction, with the highest bidder getting the chance to get the best of their favorite faculty member, so to speak. By the time the convocation started, a little over $800 had been collected. During the convocation the student body made bids on extra pies with some of them going for nearly $20 each.
"The outpouring of the kids was just overwhelming," said Mills. "That was the best part of it - it was all impromptu. To see outpouring and giving from these kids like this is fantastic."
After the convocation ended and the final tally was taken, $1,776.76 had been raised. Over half of that total came from Shriver - not from his pocket, but for his hair.
Scott Bibler, head football coach and assistant athletic director, offered a $100 bill if Shriver would shave his beard in front of the entire student body. Another faculty member, Greg Sciarra, matched the bid and requested the psychology teacher shave his head. A mass of students filed from the bleachers to the gym floor to place donations into the two white buckets. Five minutes and $955.02 later, Shriver had a drastic change in hair styles.
At the conclusion of the convocation students returned to class, with those who felt moved by the day's events stopping to give Kindig a hug and whisper "thank you."
Senior Kirk Osborne had this reflection of Kindig when asked to describe the longtime secretary: "I'd say awesome but awesome isn't a big enough word."
Junior Jennie Kerkhoff offered much of the same sentiment, saying that the important thing was to let Kindig know how appreciated she is.
"The scholarship wasn't the thing here," she said. "It was to show Kay how much everyone cared about her."
With her husband, Dick, in tears at her side, Kindig was asked to comment on the students' outpouring.
"I'm not usually speechless," she said, "but I am today. I know just about all the students by name. I've had many of their parents."
Kindig, who has served under eight different principals, was also asked if she could speak of her most memorable moment with the school corporation.
"I rode the bus with the kids the very first day this school was built," she said. "I thought it was a piece of history and I've been here ever since."
Both Shriver and Mills said donations would still be accepted and encouraged the community to get involved.
"She served our school before it was here," said Shriver. "Now she's struggling with a life-threatening condition and we wanted to work hard and establish a scholarship in her name. Community members can still contribute by contacting Peg Eaton."
Eaton may be contacted at Tippecanoe Valley High School, 219-353-7031, ext. 2450.
