Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya may have broken the two-hour marathon mark on Saturday, Oct. 12 but that was hardly the buzz circling Oakdale Joint Unified on Monday, Oct. 14. While it is an impressive feat by any and all accounts, Oakdale elementary schools broke their own type of barrier as over 2,600 students from four different sites raised the bar on the district’s annual Jog-A-Thon.
“Right now we’re north of $200,000 total in the district for four jog-a-thons,” Superintendent of Schools, Marc Malone told the school board during the monthly board meeting on Monday, Oct. 14. “That’s the first time we’ve broken the $200,000 barrier. Pretty amazing effort. We’ll give out some specific numbers for each site once the sites are able to break the news to their kids.”
As announcements began to roll out to the campuses, students and their families learned of the ultimate outcome of their efforts. The following amounts were announced throughout the fundraising event.
Cloverland: $38,166.09; Magnolia: $58,486.48; Sierra View: $50,790.87 and Fair Oaks reporting an online (only) total of $55,785. The west side Fair Oaks campus has yet to present their grand total out of respect for a “reveal” event scheduled later this month.
“PTC did a wonderful job promoting the theme and online donations during the month leading up to the event,” Fair Oaks Principal Kathy Pinol shared.
Principals of the other three campuses echoed Pinol’s acknowledgement of volunteer and parent efforts, as well as student dedication.
“We are so appreciative of all those that donated to our cause,” Magnolia Principal Janet Hamby shared. noting the Bears exceeded their record to date by $18,000.
“We are excited to use our funds toward field trips, teacher grants, school safety and other initiatives at the site,” she added.
Many of the school sites offer administrative incentives to the student body if their goal is met or exceeded. The idea of a principal or staff member doing something out of the norm as reward to the school has proven over past years to be effective, as well as fun for the whole campus.
Sierra View Principal, David Kindred, will reward his campus by walking for 24 hours on the campus playground.
“This ‘24 hour walk’ will reward the students for their fundraising efforts,” Kindred said, “as well as promote physical fitness. I will begin training for this event in preparation for the date in spring. It should be a lot of fun and the students are really excited about it.”
While the district jog-a-thon is not mandatory, each year students are encouraged to solicit sponsors to help fundraise for their school site as well as participate by either walking or running around a marked track. The event typically concludes with water and a treat for the students.
