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Chester Elementary School Students Like to Run

To keep kids healthy while at the same time exposing them to a variety of cultural arts programs, the Chester Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) will hold its second annual Fun Run Challenge at the school’s baseball field on Saturday, April 18, with a rain date of Sunday, April 19.

“Last year was our first run and it was very successful, so we are doing it again and making it an annual event,” said Chester PTO Co-Secretary Ron Toth.

Students in grades kindergarten through 6 have been busy over the past few weeks gathering sponsors for their Fun Run laps. For each $25 they raised, the students will get a raffle ticket to enter for a variety of donated prizes from area businesses such as gift certificates for the Deep River Toy Store, music equipment, ice cream, pizza, Bushy Hill Day Camp, Valley-Shore YMCA, and more.

Volunteers from Valley Regional High School will be on hand to help out in any way they can by painting faces, applying temporary tattoos, and handing out healthy snacks such as granola bars and fresh fruit provided by Adams Hometown Market.

“We want to make this a positive experience for everyone involved,” said Toth.

The run kicks off with a 9 a.m. check in, followed by a 9:15 a.m. stretch and warm up, then students are off to accumulate laps. Every five laps around the field is the equivalent of one mile. Each mile the students run is counted not only as part of the Fun Run, but also as part of the 100 miles many of them need to accumulate throughout the school year as part of the 100 Mile Club.

The 100 Mile Club provides the opportunity to run or walk 100 miles at school during a single school year, with the goal of improving school readiness, self-esteem, and overall health. Each student who has chosen to be part of the club receives a T-shirt signifying he or she is taking part in this healthy, athletic program.

“We have over 75 students signed up so far for our Fun Run, and we are expecting more, so we think this will be a great day,” said Toth. “We hope everyone comes out to enjoy the event and support our runners. All the proceeds will go to the PTO Culture Arts Program, which brings in different cultural arts programs to the school throughout the year to expose our children to different forms of art. This a good cause for a good reason, and we know it will be a great day.”