John Lewis Childs School hosts successful Boosterhon fundraiser

The Island Now
John Lewis Childs School students participated in the Boosterthon Fun Run on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26. (Photos courtesy of the Floral Park-Bellerose Union Free School District)

The gym at John Lewis Childs School transformed into a glowing, LED-lit indoor racetrack – with high-energy DJ music and an inflatable tunnel – for the Fun Run, held Jan. 25-26, as part of the annual Boosterthon fundraiser. The school held the fundraiser from Jan. 13-26.

Boosterthon, a school fundraising company, provides programs, videos and online pledging platforms to assist schools in their fundraising efforts. This school year, Booster’s theme is Sports City World Wide.

Students were encouraged to visit the Booster website and sign up with their families at home. They raised funds by sharing their personal Booster pages with family and friends, who donated funds towards the students pledging to participate in the Fun Run.

As part of the fundraiser, students watched daily videos from Booster that featured different child athletes from around the world, as well as character traits like curiosity, practice, confidence, humility and endurance. Each day at arrival and dismissal, parent volunteers greeted the students outside with music playing and signs with the character word of the day. During the morning announcements, first-grade teacher and PTA member Marisa Kowalski also updated the students on the word of the day and gave them nightly challenges. These challenges included rewarding the grade level with the most online registrations with a movie day in-class. Additionally, each teacher created a “class goals meter” and awarded their students with Crazy Sock Day, Stuffed Animal Day and other themed events.

Regardless of pledges, each student from pre-K to sixth grade was able to participate in the Fun Run. The school’s PTA decorated and set up the gym for the Fun Run, as well as ran the event each day. During the Fun Run, students were challenged to run, skip, hop, walk backwards and crawl for 35 minutes. There was a tent in the center of the track to allow for rest breaks if needed.

Each class made a flag that was displayed on the gym walls with various countries and the character words from the program.

The school exceeded its goal of raising $22,000. The funds raised will be used to help pay for activities for the students of JLCS.

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