Every year on St. Patrick’s Day in Cherokee High School, one teacher brings joy to their students’ day. Mr. Gallo spends his entire class making Irish potatoes and teaching his students about his old summer jobs making fudge on the Wildwood Boardwalk. He presents a slideshow about the history of Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, and St. Patrick’s Day.

After making the Irish potatoes in class, he will give all of his students some to try. They can all come back later that day to get some more too. Any past student can also come to Mr. Gallo’s room during the day and get some Irish potatoes. 

This tradition is unknown to those outside of Mr. Gallo’s classroom, but those who have had him before look forward to this day every year. Many past students plan out which classes they can get some potatoes in.

An Irish potato is actually not eaten in Ireland. This desert was created in Philadelphia and many people in Ireland don’t know about it. It has become a Philadelphia tradition every year to sell Irish potatoes in the month of March. Its main ingredients are coconut and cinnamon. The coconut is mixed with cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, and butter. That mixture is then rolled into balls and then rolled in cinnamon. The cinnamon gives these desserts their classic potato look.