I have been a part of Art City Elementary PTA fundraisers for four years now. Last year was kind of a record breaker, as we introduced a walk-a-thon that raised nearly $14,600. (You can read all about that here.) Knowing that I wouldn't have to do everything from scratch, I volunteered to take on the event again this year. If we could raise even half as much as last time, it would be a success. I just didn't want to find out that last year's financial achievement was a fluke. Turns out it wasn't.
Packages with lap cards, donation collection envelopes, and other event information were prepared by my amazing committee and given to each teacher. Members of the city recreation department kindly marked the courses on the field and all the preparation beforehand led up to the day of the event.
The date of the walk-a-thon was pushed back into October, but even so, we could not have asked for better weather. Spencer's class was scheduled for the morning run (and by run, I mean run. The students set an overall pace that was manic). In the forty-five minute time allotment, Spencer ran 29 laps--just three laps short of four miles. Brevin ran in the afternoon and completed 27 laps. Needless to say, I was proud of both of them. I don't think I ever ran a consecutive distance like that until I was thirty-something and training for a triathlon. They both ran at least a 5k for the second year in a row. In fact, of the nearly 600 students at the school, over 250 ran a 5k or more. Amazing!
I registered the walk-a-thon as an official event in conjunction with Nickelodeon's Worldwide Day of Play, so as students left the school that afternoon, they signed a poster pledging their intentions for being physically active on October 6th. (Spencer appears to look shocked to think he would have a Saturday with no video games.)
After a week of money collections and lap tabulations, my committee and I were ready to award students in an assembly that was jam packed with prizes, minute-to-win-it competitions, and special guest, Willie the Wolverine. I cannot tell you how exciting and fun it was to be in that auditorium. Talk about a party!
Even though the goal poster in the school lobby read $11,166.19, we had some late collections trickle in that brought the final total to nearly $11,600. Not too shabby. I just might volunteer to do it all again next year. Let's see if the third time really is the charm.
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