Back at it again with prize signs for the Peabody Jog-A-Thon. We've gotten smarter though and have started to save them each year since a few prizes are standard.
This year's theme was in honor of the First Responders and focusing on not only giving back to our school but to our community.
The kids made their annual Jog-A-Thon video to get the word out on requesting pledges, why they were running and that this year they would be donating back to the SB Fire Fighters Alliance.
I've been on the Sports Committee since Samantha was in kindergarten and my sole job is collecting corporate sponsors. My first year we raised about 10K and with various advertising incentives I added each year, we inched closer to 20K. This year, between these nine sponsors, we raised $61,000!
And collectively with all of these sponsors, who are all current Peabody families or alumni, we raised over $71,000.
Early to school on the day of the event to help set up.
Two of the three best P.E. coaches in town! Coach Holbrook, Coach Jules and missing from the picture is Coach Steph.
Supporting the kindergarteners who are first to the track.
Todd's money tracking sign up and ready for some color.
New this year, we added in water bottles (made from recyclable material) which saved the 3,500 cups that we usually went through. Thank you to Lila's family for the sponsorship!
I loved Thatcher's decorated water bottle.
First graders looking strong and one hot mama running along side her daughter.
Thatcher and the group of second graders getting ready to run.
Thatcher is looking a little tense here. I've got two very competitive kids and Thatcher's very open about wanting to win each year. It's not necessarily a "fun run" for everyone. The tradition at Peabody is actually rewarding the kids who run the most as well as the ones that bring in the most money (the overlap on doing both of those things is pretty high). Some parents complain, some parents praise it. It's the one event the entire school year where they aren't passing out participation ribbons. The school allows it because it brings in a TON of money. The more you run, the more you make. And let's face it, there are very few pubic schools in California that aren't desperate for money. So, complainers are silenced ;)
And he's off. 40 minutes of running.
Thatcher's main competition is this little cutie, Erin.
They criss crossed back and forth with Erin leading, then Thatcher, then Erin....
Coach Jules jumped in to motivate Thatcher and Erin to keep going. With 40 minutes of running, they were going to be running at least four miles.
Done!
No results are announced until just before Spring break. The kids learn how many laps they run in order to collect from those who pledged them per lap but in less they can compare their laps to their entire grade to figure out who ran the most, it's hard to tell where you placed.
Thatcher ran 37 laps which is three laps more than he did in first grade.
Sam's grade ready to go!
Done!
Samantha ran 40 laps, three more than she did in third grade.
Thatcher decided to skip class and watch all the grades run. Thatcher would rather be anywhere but in the classroom. I figured cheering on his school was fine for the day. He even ran with his buddy, Sawyer, for his last jog-a-thon before he was off to jr. high.
Even some First Responders joined the last group of the day!
And of course, Fletcher, Peabody's therapy dog, got in on the action!
Fast forward to the end of March and it was time for the Jog-A-Thon assembly. This is where the awards are announced as well as the grand total of funds raised. Our goal was 100K. If we met our goal, a school-wide party happens. We didn't know how to hide the bounce houses from the kids that day so they pretty much knew we made our goal ;)
The grand total raised was over $176,000!
Both kids won first place in their grade level 🥇
And Samantha even tied for the most laps out of all the girls in the school and received a small icee. 😜
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