Columbia Middle School and Sunnyvale Middle School held a 5K Run/Walk Fundraiser on September 28, 2013. The organizers, Physical Education Departments at both schools, were pleased with the great turn-out even though there were only a few weeks to promote the event. Participants supporting both schools got up early that Saturday morning, enjoyed the nice weather and scenery at Baylands Park, were energized by the morning 5K walk/run and in the process, helped each school raise more than $1000 to be used toward purchasing new PE equipment.
Staff from the PE Departments at Columbia Middle School and Sunnyvale Middle School worked hard to put on the event. The team at CMS included Bret Cullen, Trevor Naas, and Gigi Swan; SMS staff included Rob Barelli, Katie Dequine, Lindsay Free, and Thomas Hernandez. Rebecca Kim from SMS is not a PE teacher, but she can be counted on to always help at the event! Shane Reynolds from SMS helped make sure runners/walkers knew where the route was as it zigzagged through the park, and was there to cheer everyone on.
Funds were raised from registration fees ($25 for adults and $15 for students). Every registrant received an event t-shirt if the registration was received by September 20. Every participant received a ribbon upon crossing the finish line.
Among the winners were: first place (boys), Jared Chan, a 7th Grader from SMS, first place (girls), Erin Kaprelian, an 8th Grader from SMS; Ryan Hernandez, 8th Grade boy winner from Britton Middle School. High School girl winner was Panthea Farmoohad. Rebecca Kim, teacher at SMS, and Julia Shotwell,teacher at CMS, both won their age-division.
This was the third (hopefully annual) 5K fun run. The first was held in May of 2011 and it was mainly Columbia Middle School students/staff and District staff who participated. The following year, Sunnyvale Middle School joined Columbia Middle School and the event became the Bulldog/Spartan Classic.
The September event enjoyed the support from District Office staff, principals and teachers from both schools, as well as alumni and siblings of middle school students, currently attending elementary school. Among the participants were Mary Beth Allmann, Laurie Carlson, Stev Gever, Alison Ku, Linda Lau, Kerry McNaughton, Emily Moorehead, and Mona Salas from CMS, Rebecca Kim from SMS, and Mala Ahuja and Pam Murdock from the District Office. Sports Basement has been a strong supporter of the event, providing two $25 gift cards for our winning male and female runners.
Please be on the look out for our next event, in 2014-15 school year.
Information provided by Thomas Hernandez, Co-Athletic Director at SMS, and Gigi Swan, teacher at CMS PE Department
