Students run for Cougar Trails
June 4, 2009
By Laura Geggel
On any given recess, Snoqualmie Elementary students will grab their running cards and break into a sprint around their school’s grassy field. Every fifth lap, they take their running card to a table staffed by parent volunteers to pick up a prize.
“It gets my legs good for soccer,” said first-grader Nick Copland, as he paused to contemplate his reasons for running.
First-grader Nick Rohde gave his reason without a second thought.
“You get prizes,” he said.
The PTSA began Cougar Trails in the fall of 2005 and has held the program in the fall and spring months ever since. Every Friday, if the weather permits, about 200 children make a dash around the field, either by themselves or with their friends.
From left, first-graders Allison Husemann, Keely Bothwell and Mia Bel run around the Snoqualmie Elementary field for Cougar Trails.
“I had one little girl say to me, ‘no one wants to play today, so I’ll just walk,’” former PTSA President Jackie Gardiner said.
Cougar Trails also appeals to student athletes. Running is integral to many a sport — from running out a double in baseball to dribbling in soccer.
Gardiner said she’s seen students run the loop kicking a soccer ball and groups of first- and second-grade girls walking together.
“It tapers off in fifth grade, because of all of the intramural activities they do at lunchtime,” Gardiner said. “But when they have time off, we have a couple of boys who run the track the whole time after they get done with lunch, so it’s been a great activity.”
On a sunny Friday, May 29, students swarmed around the prize table as they redeemed their cards for knick-knacks.
During the program’s second year, gym teacher Jim McEldowney received a grant from Nike to supply the prize table. For a while, students were winning soccer balls, water bottles and Nike bracelets for their field repeats. When the Nike prizes ran out, parent volunteers worried children would no longer want to participate.
Their worries were unfounded. Some of the more popular prizes — charms — are plastic do-dads that students can collect and place on their necklaces from Walkathon.
“My oldest son loves it,” parent volunteer Sarah Wray said.
“The bling, the charms motivate them,” parent volunteer Shannon Gray said.
Not all children wore their charms. Second-grader Destinie Gama said her teacher Nate Ziemkowski encouraged her to run.
“Quite a few kids do it every Friday,” Ziemkowski said. “They like the running, but they really like counting the laps.”
Ziemkowski said Cougar Trails provides a good outlet for children who might have a hard time joining games like kickball or wall-ball at recess.
“It’s a good social thing for them to do and feel good about themselves,” Ziemkowski said.
This was Cole Heimbigner’s first time around the field this year. He and three of his friends were ready to race around the field. If it weren’t for Cougar Trails, they would probably be playing on the swings, his friend Matthew Kosinski said.
“Cougar Trails is fun,” third-grader Logan Ford said. “It gives you exercise.”
Third-grader Max Pino normally plays kickball on days Cougar Trails is not offered, but he and his friends will run a few circuits around the field for the sake of a prize or two.
“Obesity is such a problem these days,” Gardiner said. “It’s a way of opening up doors to new activities that kids have not thought of before.”
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
Comments
Got something to say?
Before you comment, please note:
- These comments are moderated.
- Comments should be relevant to the topic at hand and contribute to its discussion.
- Personal attacks and/or excessive profanity will not be tolerated and such comments will not be approved.
- This is not your personal chat room or forum, so please stay on topic.
