Last month, students at Flowery Elementary School ran 4,340 laps around the school track – an impressive 1,240 collective miles – to raise funds for an upcoming outdoor education program. Together, the students raised $7,300, which will enable Flowery’s fifth-grade class to participate in a four-day program at the Headlands Institute in Marin County.
The amount raised is being matched by a donation from Steve Ledson of the Harmony Foundation, who was on hand to present the school with a check at an awards assembly last Friday. The two classes who ran the most laps and collected the most sponsors were honored. In addition, individual runners were honored for their achievements. Fourth-grader, Ethan Vitale, and fifth-grader, Eduardo Barajas, both ran 26 laps, the greatest number of laps in under one hour.
Students train all year long for this event by running laps with their teachers around the school track several times a week in addition to regularly scheduled PE classes. The tradition of running laps is integral to the curriculum and a testament to Flowery’s commitment to physical fitness and to combat childhood obesity.
