GREENTOWN, Ind. — Chuck Hewitt spent Thursday night with his son, Austin, at the Ronald McDonald House in Indianapolis.

While Austin stayed at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health to receive chemotherapy, Chuck returned to Greentown, about an hour’s drive north of Indianapolis, where he was greeted by a cheering crowd of middle school students.

The students recently completed a penny war competition, where each grade tried to raise the most amount of positive points using pennies — and sabotage other grades with silver coins, which counted as negative points. By the end of the competition, they were able to present the Hewitt family with a check for $1,108.68.

Eastern Middle School Principal Lindsey Brown addressed the crowd of students Friday during a school assembly.

“I am proud of this group,” Brown said.

She announced that Austin’s brother, Gatlin, was going to get to pie Brown and two teachers in the face, which the students were excited to see.

As Gatlin prepared to pie each faculty member, the students cheered.

“One! Two! Three!” They shouted each time.

Though Brown and the teachers wore hair nets, safety goggles and ponchos, Brown walked away with whipped cream on her face, clothes and shoes.

Chuck said he was floored by the level of support from the students.

“We couldn’t have asked for anything better than what we got today,” he said. “And I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: I would not want to live anywhere else in the world except Greentown, Indiana. The people are awesome, the school is awesome.”

Tonya Hewitt, Austin’s mother, agreed.

Austin’s parents told the Kokomo, Indiana Tribune that he didn’t know about the competition yet, but they knew he’d be happy to hear that the students were so supportive.

“There’s so much support here,” said Austin’s mother, Tonya Hewitt. “It just gives me chills anytime something like this happens.”

Pemberton writes for the Kokomo, Indiana Tribune.