Ladd Lane Elementary School students showed true colors—from heads to toes—as part of another successful Walk-A-Thon fundraiser and Color Run.
On Friday, Oct. 6, Ladd Lane held the walk and coinciding run, with proceeds from the school’s biggest fundraiser of the year going toward the Parent Club to help support field trips and purchase classroom supplies. As always, parents played a crucial and much-appreciated role in the event.
“It takes a lot of parent volunteers to put this on,” said Jeannine Ostoja, Ladd Lane principal. “Our parents are here all day. It’s a family event. That’s the best part of it, for me, is having parents on campus and being a part of their kids’ education here.”
This was the second consecutive year back for the annual fundraiser after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
There are 775 students enrolled at the school who took part in the Walk-A-Thon portion, and about 100 parents were on campus that day either volunteering or watching as spectators. Students who raised at least $75 through the Walk-A-Thon then had the opportunity to participate in the Color Run portion later that day.
This year’s event had a “Super Mario” theme. Students who raised at least $15 received a “Super Ladd Lane Walk-A-Thon” T-shirt as well.
For the Walk-A-Thon, students raise funds through a flat donation or a dollar amount per lap from donors. They received a colored bracelet each time around to keep track, with most students doing five to 10 laps, said Jeff Aguirre, Ladd Lane assistant principal. The vast majority of donations, meanwhile, are from a flat amount.
As for the afternoon Color Run, eligible students were split into two groups based on grade levels. The TK through first-grade students went first and ran gleefully around a smaller circle as parents sprayed the non-toxic colored chalk on them. Then the higher grades ran around a larger area and received the same showering of colors.
“It was great,” Aguirre said. “We did a little pep rally before, first thing in the morning. We got up and introduced all the top winners and the two class winners.”
He said it was a “very energetic” pep rally with a lot of chanting and appreciation for parent volunteers. The top earner was a fourth-grade student this year. The top three earners receive a prize, as do the top two classrooms.
The school was grateful the deejay volunteered his time free of charge, and the hot weather that day added a wrinkle to the event. In response, school leaders shortened the distances for the Color Run, and parents helped to set up cones in the smaller areas. That didn’t diminish the amount of joy seen from students as parents sprayed them with the colors.
“That part is the most fun,” Aguirre said.
