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SIERRA VISTA — The Coronado Elementary School jog-a-thon is tiring, but fun.
“It takes up a lot of your energy,” said fourth-grader Clarissa De La Cruz. “My favorite part (of school) is P.E., so this is kind of like P.E.”
De La Cruz and the rest of the students at the K-8 school took turns running laps in half-hour sessions Friday as part of the school’s efforts to raise funds for a new track and field.
“We have a track team, and in the spring we bring out some tractors and blade some dirt,” said Principal Marylotti Copeland, adding it means, since the students aren’t practicing on a regulation track, they don’t know how they’re progressing until the day of the races. “This is how we’ve done it for years, but we’d really like them to have a track to use.”
  
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The track and field would not only benefit the track team, but the physical education classes and the community, as it would be set up as a community park, Copeland said.
“There’d be a walking track around the perimeter in addition to the regulation track,” Copeland said. “It would really be a school and community place.”
A conceptual plan in place, courtesy of grant money the school received last year, raising the money to build the track, which Copeland said they’re expecting to cost around $150,000, is what’s stopping them.
The idea for the jog-a-thon, in which students get pledges for their half-hour run, came from teachers who had done a similar event at previous schools.
Liz Lopez, a fine arts teacher, said she was the first one to bring the idea of a jog-a-thon to the school.
“All the parents’ money goes directly to the school,” Lopez said, explaining that, unlike selling items, there’s no overhead involved with the event, so it’s all profit.
To date, the jog-a-thon, which is in its third year, has raised approximately $56,000 for the school to put toward the track and field. In an effort to speed up the process of getting the track and field, Copeland said she plans on trying to reach out to the community to get businesses and organizations to donate.
With financial times being tough, Lopez said “we have to look at creative ways” to earn money, and the jog-a-thon is one of those ways.
Things were done a little differently in this year’s jog-a-thon, with students being able to write letter campaigns to family and friends outside of the area. In addition, T-shirts and water bottles were made up with a logo for the event on them and given to students who raised a certain amount of money.
To get the students more involved, the school held a contest and encouraged the students to design and submit a logo. Fifth-grader Lauren Markee’s design won.
And, with everything else the event offered, it got the students active.
“This is another way to encourage our kids to get out and exercise and be healthy,” Copeland said.
Herald/Review reporter Katie Evans can be reached at 515-4611 or by e-mail at katie.evans@svherald.com.
jeannie wrote on Oct 11, 2008 8:47 PM:
when all this started 2-3 years ago, the idea was to have the community use the track. why don't you ask the principal or school board instead of this silly comment. "