Originally published in the April 25th, 2016 edition of the Hillsboro Tribune and written by Kathy Fuller.
Show up, team up and run
HILLSBORO TRIBUNE PHOTO: KATHY FULLER – Running club members, including physical education teacher Amanda Standish, finish each session with a team cheer.
Show up and run together.That’s what physical education teacher Amanda Standish asks of her running club members at W.L. Henry Elementary School.
Armed with bright orange pedometers on their hips and upbeat music blasting out of the speakers, the runners set off to jog around the makeshift track marked by cones around a baseball field.
One lap around the cones last Friday and the runners began to shed their hoodies.
“It’s hot,” a few said of the suddenly warm weather. But after a few laps most of runners, ages kindergarten through fifth grade, began to peek at their pedometers, curious to see how many steps they’d taken.
Standish’s running club meets once a week on Fridays after school.
She hopes to encourage her students (and their family members) to participate in the upcoming second annual “Team Up for Students! 5K Run and Walk,” an event that this year will benefit W.L Henry Elementary.
W.L. Henry Running CLub.
“I want them to have fun doing something active,” Standish said, “and have fun with some self-competition.“It’s challenging,” said fifth-grader Hanae Ejjamri, who engaged in a little sibling competition with her sister, Hedaya, a second-grader. Both say they’ll turn out in May for the Team Up run.
Team Up for Students is organized by Washington County UniServ, a service branch of the Oregon Education Association. Race co-director Marcia Camacho developed the event to bring awareness to the needs of school in Washington County.
“There are many schools in Washington County that are struggling to make ends meet and meet the needs of their students,” Camacho said. “Last year’s event resulted in over $3,500 for Cornelius Elementary, which was used for everything from art supplies to field trips.”
HILLSBORO TRIBUNE PHOTOS: KATHY FULLER – Members of W.L. Henry Elementary Schools running club are all smiles after a quick water break last Friday afternoon.
Camacho invites educators, students and their family members and anyone else to take part.; form a team or enter as an individual. She’s also looking for event sponsors.
Standish said many W.L. Henry families participated in the inaugural event. “We had a large turnout at last year’s race,” she said.
“Hopefully, we can all show up and run together.”
Team Up for Students 5K Fun Run and Walk
WHEN: Saturday, May 14, 9 a.m.
WHERE: Echo Shaw Elementary School, 914 S. Linden St., Cornelius
WHAT: 5K Walk and Run for all ages and abilities
WHY: Washington County Educators are teaming up to raise funds to help school that are in need. W.L. Henry Elementary in Hillsboro will benefit from this year’s event proceeds.
REGISTER: www.teamupforstudents.org