Wednesday, May 23, 2001
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Wednesday, May 23, 2001 |
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Students at Oak Grove are part of successful running club By MICHAEL
BOYLAN
You may find elementary school students sticking around after school, either using the playground equipment or serving some punishment for acting up in class. You would never expect to find students showing up early for school, that is unless they go to Oak Grove Elementary School in Peachtree City. Students at Oak grove have been showing up early all year long to participate in the Oak Grove Running Club. Since the beginning of the year over 240 students have participated in the program with an average of 125 students showing up each day. They run laps and get marked on the hand for each lap the complete. The running club meets every sunny day that the temperature is over 50 degrees. Students that show up consistently are awarded with a running club shirt and those who complete 100 laps receive CiCi's Pizza. The club is the brain child of Teri Besch who wanted to form the club a few years ago. Last year, the school received the track, which is 1/5 mile around, and the program was finally feasible. "It's great for the kids because it keeps them healthy and forms good habits for physical health," said Besch. "Plus, the teachers have noticed that the children in the running club are ready to work when the day begins, rather than taking a little while to wake up after school starts." The average students runs 5-7 laps a day and two students have run over 400 laps this year. There were 100 students participating the first day and more students join every day. Some teachers walk the track during the morning to keep an eye on the students and even some parents are involved, volunteering their time to help keep track of the laps that the students have run. The Oak Grove Running Club seems to benefit evry aspect of the school. The students are dedicated to the program, working towards goals and staying physically fit, the teachers have students who are ready to learn, and the administration has no problem getting a number of students to class on time. |
