We're Going to Have a 5K/1-mile Color Run/Walk!

This past Monday, shortly after 11am (central time), Meb Keflezighi won the 118th annual Boston Marathon. Several hours later, almost 1200 miles to the west of the Boylston Street finish line in Boston, a group of individuals met in Riverside, Iowa to work on organizing and planning a run associated with our elementary school.

Along with the Washington County YMCA (a special thanks to Marcus Hall and Becky Harkema for helping us plan and host this event) we will be putting-on a 5K and a one-mile color walk/run in Riverside on Sunday, June 22nd. A note with more specific sign-up information should be coming home via Friday folders this Friday, April 25th. If you are from outside the Highland CSD and are interested in learning more about this race, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Hosting a run through the school is very exciting for me because running is a personal passion of mine. That wasn't always the case, however. I ran in high school (track and field) for two reasons - 1) to stay in shape for the other sports that I was more invested in, and 2) to spend time with my friends who at the time were more serious about running than me. After high school I would run occasionally, but it was not my preferred method of exercise. Once I became fully employed and time started to stretch thin, I started to choose running as a form of exercise that could be accomplished relatively quickly. One thing led to another and several years later I now thoroughly enjoying the training for and the running of half-marathons. It's funny how things change.

Anyways, this run that we are producing will be a great opportunity for our school to promote fitness and good health through an activity that can be done throughout one's life. Furthermore, it is a nice extension of the walk-a-thon that or Elementary Support Organization (ESO) has put-on for our students each of the past two falls. It also connects very nicely to the laps that Mr. Jaspering has his PE students run as a warm-up at the beginning of each class period. The students keep track of their laps, turn the laps into miles, and monitor their progress as the year progresses. As of April 23rd, the leading student at Riverside Elementary is just shy of having tallied 25 miles this school year!

All 3rd - 5th grade students received a shoe to decorate after they ran/walked one-mile. They also sign a poster documenting that they've ran/walked one, five, ten, fifteen, and twenty miles. This is posted in the gym. All 3rd - 5th grade students have recorded at least 10 miles this school year during PE.

Proceeds raised from this event will be split between the Washington Co. YMCA and our ESO. Our ESO uses their funds on things that will benefit our school. This year, we were fortunate to receive iPads and accessories for all of our teachers from our ESO. We are extremely thankful for the influx in technology that you have provided us with, as well as all of the things that you provide for our teachers, our students, and our school. Nonetheless, this event is not about raising funds; we are planning this event because it will be a fun, nice thing to do this summer with your family and the school community. We hope to see you there!

This Email Made Me Smile

This seems like a fitting time to post this as we just sent home our students' Iowa Assessment scores, last week.

The italicized text below was sent to me via email a few weeks ago. In following-up on the email that I received, I was pointed to the blog of the the principal at Amana Elementary of the Clear Creek Amana Community School District's blog (http://benmacumber.blogspot.com). Amana Elementary's principal, Mr. Ben Macumber, does not appear to have authored these thoughts, but he does share the same note in his entry titled, 'I didn't think of this, but I sure wish I had...'

My daughter's new elementary school principal sent this to all the students as they received their state standardized testing scores this week:

"We are concerned that these tests do not always assess all of what it is that make each of you special and unique. The people who create these tests and score them do not know each of you-- the way your teachers do, the way I hope to, and certainly not the way your families do...They do not know that you can play a musical instrument or that you can dance or paint a picture. They do not know that your friends count on you to be there for them or that your laughter can brighten the dreariest day. They do not know that you write poetry or songs, play or participate in sports, wonder about the future, or that sometimes you take care of your little brother or sister after school. They do not know that you have traveled to a really neat place or that you know how to tell a great story or that you really love spending time with special family members and friends. They do not know that you can be trustworthy, kind or thoughtful, and that you try, every day, to be your very best... the scores you get will tell you something, but they will not tell you everything. There are many ways of being smart."