Salina elementary school students had a healthy start to their school year thanks to the fourth year of school marathon grants from the Greater Salina Community Foundation with funding support from the Salina Regional Health Center. More than 3,564 students representing all 10 Salina elementary schools participated in school marathons at their respective schools, running or walking a collective 79,500 miles!
A total of 2,675 students completed a full marathon, an increase of 86 students from the previous year. In addition, approximately 1,200 teachers, parents, siblings, and other community members supported the students by participating in the program.
A school marathon provides a structure for students to run or walk distances that add up to a marathon (26.2 miles) over a period of 5-6 weeks. Modifications are made for students with special needs to ensure that all have an opportunity to be successful. Students receive incentives along the way as they complete 5-mile increments. Parents, teachers and community volunteers assist with the tracking and coordination of the events. The school marathon grant program was based on a successful school marathon model established by parent volunteer Dana Kossow at Meadowlark Elementary School in 2004.
Positive feedback continues to be received from the schools. The most common comments are: better classroom behavior; decreased tardies, absences and office referrals; and students as a whole were more alert, more involved, more energetic, more disciplined, more focused and had a better attention span while participating in the School Marathon Grant Program. However, there are additional benefits of the school marathon grants. One teacher provided this information:
“The students seem more positive and excited to be at school because they look forward to the marathon. I think the marathon makes them feel better about themselves and gives them confidence which so many were lacking before! The students have pride in their accomplishments each day in the marathon. It also helps teachers build a better relationship and rapport with the students because we can go run laps with them and encourage them. I’ve noticed my students are more aware of making healthy choices because of the marathon they see the importance of getting active each day!”
The school marathon grants have been funded through the Greater Salina Community Foundation’s Community Health Grants. Initial funding came from a partnership with the Kansas Health Foundation, Wichita. The Salina Regional Health Center has also been a funding partner for the school marathon grants three of the four years.
Each participating school designed its own marathon program. Grant funding for each school was based on the number of students that complete the marathon. Schools that had at least 75% of the enrolled students complete a full marathon will receive an additional $500 grant to purchase equipment for physical education classes or playground equipment. This year five schools earned the additional grant; they are: Coronado, Cottonwood, Meadowlark, Oakdale and Salina Christian Academy.
The 2014 School Marathon Grant recipients were:
Coronado Elementary School
Cottonwood Elementary School
Heusner Elementary School
Meadowlark Ridge Elementary School
Oakdale Elementary School
St. Mary’s Elementary School
Salina Christian Academy
Schilling Elementary School
Stewart Elementary School
Sunset Elementary School