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Jaindl Bests Surgeons In Kome Sushi Finale

The Parkland District elementary school takes home first place in "Sushi For Scholars" competition.

It was a fun evening of laughter and delicious food Tuesday as representatives from Jaindl Elementary School (a.k.a. “Sushi Scholars”) challenged last year’s “Sushi Surgeons” winners from Lehigh Valley Health Network  (LVHN) at Kome, an Asian restaurant in the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley.

Over the past few months, schools from all over the region have competed for the title of “Sushi Scholar,” in an effort to raise money for their individual charities. Jaindl fifth-grade teacher Damian Goodman and Principal Diana Schantz were successful in making it to the final round.

Much to their dismay, the other schools chose to pull out of the competition, leaving them searching for a “Plan B.” Schantz suggested they challenge last year’s Sushi Surgeons champions instead.

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Dr. Raymond Singer, chief of cardio-thoracic surgery at LVHN was happy to accept. His daughters attend school in the Parkland district, so he felt it was a win-win situation.

“Dr. Pat Toselli’s daughter is a teacher in the Parkland School District. I think the reason we were selected is because we identify with the district. I imagine if they do this again, they’ll pick physicians who are affiliated with the other districts,” Singer said.

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Toselli, a general surgeon at LVHN, was the second team member of the Sushi Surgeons.

“I’m here to support the cause,” Toselli said. “And to support the children’s new emergency room at LVHN. We’re very excited about it.”

Rather than accept the night’s winnings (15 percent of the restaurant's receipts) if they took the title, the surgeons wanted Jaindl to take it all.

Their only desire was to bring awareness to the community about the new children’s emergency room. They handed out Lego-styled stress relievers to guests in attendance.

“The profits will go toward Parkland. If we win, it goes to Parkland School District. If we lose, it goes to Parkland School District,” Singer said jokingly.

Parkland Superintendent Louise Donohue was also in attendance with soon-to-be superintendent Richard Sniscak.

“We’re just thrilled to be in the finals of the event, and we’re looking forward to some new playground equipment,” Donohue said.

On Jaindl’s side of the ring, fifth-grade teacher Damian Goodman and principal, Diana Schantz were just glad to be back.

“We were supposed to go against a number of schools, but they backed out because of various reasons such as cuts in the school districts and so forth,” Schantz explained. “We were kind of wondering what was going to happen, so they suggested bringing back the surgeons.”

Fortunately, Singer and Toselli were willing to accept the challenge.

Their “Doc Lobster” was an interesting creation, similar to an ice cream cone in shape but filled with sweet and sometimes spicy chunks of lobster, cucumber, avocado, and asparagus. The delicate soy paper wrap gave it a light texture.

Schantz and Goodman stuck with their winner from the last competition – the “Trojan Teriyaki Roll” (previously known as the “Grand Champion Roll.")  It's a traditional-style sushi roll, but consists of very non-traditional sushi ingredients such as grilled turkey, avocado, cucumber, pineapple salsa and teriyaki sauce.

By 8 p.m., Jaindl had a clear lead with a score of 1,048 to 286. In their last competition against Bethlehem School District’s Miller Heights Elementary School, Jaindl raised over $1,000. Goodman said they were hoping for a similar total after this evening’s event.

“I’m hoping we raise over $1,000. It would be a realistic goal for this evening,” Goodman said. “We’ve been getting out as much as we can to raise as much money as possible.”

The money will go toward a new playground at Jaindl Elementary School. As of now, they are limited in their equipment for the students since it is a newly constructed school.

Goodman said he’ll be “a little sad” when it’s all over.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting out and getting all the people out. We have teachers here from all the different schools in the district, the superintendent is here, and board members have come by. It’s been great to get the response we’ve gotten.”

Kome publicist, Peter Brewslow, asked Patch to break the news that Kome is planning a second round of competitions involving physicians from the LVHN. This competition will be called “Sushi Surgeons: Built for Kids.” All funds raised will benefit the new Children’s ER at LVHN.

“They (the surgeons) had a really great run last time and are really excited about the fundraising opportunity,” Breslow said.

“Sushi Surgeons: Built for Kids” will occur each month this summer at Kome. Dates will be announced as soon as LVHN has an opportunity to organize which physicians will be participating. Breslow hopes to get things going by May, but said it could be as late as June.

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