Monday night provided the perfect forum for Support Oakdale Schools (SOS) Fun Run board members Ted Thome, Joey Valencia and Tina Lane to get the word out as they prepare for the ninth annual event on Saturday, March 10.

A light agenda of reports and updates, offered the trio plenty of speaking time during the Public Comments portion of the meeting.

Fourth year SOS board member and past Oakdale Educational Foundation President, Thome, shared details as well as figures with the board from previous year events.

“Last year we raised $15,000 and we were pretty happy with that,” he said.

Organizers noted that the same goal has been set for this year, with hopes of close to 300 participants returning to the event.

Thome shared inspiring stories of watching young children run with parents and family members, noting that the sense of community and family is truly the driving force of the event. Proceeds from the event go to OEF, a 501c3 and go directly back to Oakdale schools and student events such as field trips, special programs and other teacher classroom needs.

Oakdale Joint Unified School District was presented with sponsorship forms by the trio, as well as encouraged to participate via running/walking or volunteering. The one mile/5k run/walk event will be hosted at Cloverland Elementary School with the one mile beginning at 8:30 a.m. on March 10.

In other business at the Feb. 26 board meeting, the 2018-19 Board Meeting Calendar was adopted, with special note given to a new permanent location. Beginning in the 2018-19 school year, all meetings will be hosted at the OJUSD Technology and Staff Development Center.

Magnolia Elementary School students Vincent Campodonico, Bronc Balaam, Jessie Silva and Peyton Burtschi began the meeting by leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

The next meeting will be hosted on Monday, March 12 at the Oakdale City Council Chambers. Open Session will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting is open to the public.