The school year is off and running at Emerald Park Elementary, where the parent teacher student association hosted its first fundraiser Oct. 2, a Safari Jog-a-Thon that had kids of all ages taking laps around the field behind the school.

Along with raising money, the event places an emphasis on the importance of keeping active and fit.

“It’s a great way to incorporate fitness into fundraising,” said Emerald Park PTSA board member and event organizer Karen Sims. “We had to do it again!”

This is the second year the PTSA has hosted the event and the hope is to turn it into an annual fundraiser.

“It actually binds the whole school together,” said Principal Dean Ficken, as he walked the loop with the kids. “When the kids talk about something a lot, you know it’s a winner.”

For the kids, the event was an opportunity to have a little fun outside, and get some exercise while they do it.

“I feel great,” said fifth-grader Brianna Cho, 10, after completing 13 of her laps. “My goal is to do 17.”

Cho said she looked forward to the event after having fun last year, where she completed 15 laps of the field.

“It’s a great day. I really look forward to it,” she said. “It’s a great balance of staying healthy in a fun way.”

According to Physical Education Specialist Eric Lofstrom, the jog-a-thon fits in well with the fitness assessments and goal setting he is currently doing with the students, though the goals themselves and the number of laps the students complete are not for grading purposes.

“Instead of me of me grading them or using their scores as grades, they are using them t focus their efforts,” he said.

Lofstrom added that jogging or walking is good exercise and something that just about anyone can do with little or no special equipment.

“Walking and jogging and running are lifetime activities and good ways to stay in shape,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what age group you are in.”

PTSA President Leslie Delfin said her group supports all of the student enrichment activities in the school, from field trips to assemblies to books to supplies to scholarships for the sixth-grade camp and just about everything in between.

Out on the field, Delfin was marking off laps for the younger kids and encouraging everyone to keep walking.

“This is great,” she said. “This is the kickoff to our fundraising.

“Everything we do is for the kids.”

Delfin said the group was hoping to raise about $5,000 this year, down from last year’ total of $7,000, which both she and Sims attributed to the economy.

According to Ficken, the money is extremely helpful, as a single field trip costs $4,000 just in transportation costs. Ficken added that the PTSA is a great partner for the school and always is looking for new ways to mix things up and raise a little money.

There are also prizes available and any student who raises any money at all is entered into a drawing. The students who raised the most money – through a flat donation, not a per-lap donation – will also receive prizes such as a Nintendo Wii or a new bicycle.

But the kids on the field didn’t seem particularly worried about the fundraising or the prizes. They were in it for the fun and the exercise.

“It’s so fun because you get to hang with your friends,” said sixth-grader Meaghen Schneider, 11.

“If you don’t stay fit your heart breaks down,” added fellow sixth-grader McLane Wilsey, 11.

“It’s important to be fit and not be a couch potato,” agreed Justyne Openiano, 11.

Caleb Maitland, 11, added that the event was a good chance to talk to their teacher who was walking for two this year.

“She gets two points for every (lap) because she’s pregnant,” he said.