NORTHWEST FORSYTH — Students in the Liberty Middle School band rocked their way to meeting a fundraising goal, and the prize was pie.

Not to eat. Rather, to smash in their band director’s face on Tuesday morning before he climbed onto the roof of the school and played his saxophone, tinted with whipped cream.

The 225-student band raised $11,222 during its annual Rock-A-Thon, the largest source of funding for new instruments and equipment, according to Josh Tyree, the band director who got a close-up of the plates filled with whipped cream.

“I promised them if they raised $11,000 I would let anyone who raised $100 pie me in the face,” he said.

They collected donations from the community for every five hours spent rocking in a rocking chair during an event at the north Forsyth school, where they played games, ate and rocked away.

Tyree was pied in the face 68 times.

“One student raised $860,” he said, “so he pied me eight times. They voted on what to do, and the second option was to duct tape me to a wall and throw things at me. We’re always trying to keep it fun.”