I go out walkin...

Today was our PTA's annual fundraiser walk. Thank you so much to all who donated. The PTA, The Boy and I really appreciate it. So far, the total raised is just over $11,000, with $10,000 of that coming from classroom donations and the rest being made up of corporate sponsorships. Donations are still be accepted through next week so there is every chance that we will get more before it is done. Last year (our first ever fundraiser walk), the final total was $14,000 so we are fairly close to that. They said they didn't go after the corporate sponsors as hard this year, which accounts for some of the decrease.

Anyway, yesterday, I spent 2 hours passing out magnets and shirts to all the kids. And then today, I had to be at school at 7am to get coffee started and help set up. I spent my morning directing traffic around the playground and encouraging kids to please walk between the booths. Then, when TB's class came out, I walked around and did some of the exhibits with them. After the fair, they walked a half mile course around the school and I walked with them. In theory they walked. In reality most of them ran most of the way which is totally crazy. After his class was done walking and signed the banner that I made yesterday, I went to help tear down the exhibits and then joined his class for lunch. I didn't actually have time to eat which is ok, since I forgot to order myself a sack lunch for today. After lunch, I finshed packing up and headed home. I was here about an hour before I had to back and get him.

All in all, I think it was very successful. There were no major catastrophies, which is saying a lot for a group of volunteers who mostly don't know what is going on. :) The exhibitor all seemed to do a great job keeping the kids interested and moving along. The kids all had fun at the fair and the only complaint I heard was that there wasn't enough time to see everything. I have a suggestion for next year for incentives as well. If a child raises $25, they get a shirt. They get the shirt the Friday after they turn in the $25, whenever that is. Then, the day before the walk, all the kids, no matter the amount of money raised are given a shirt so that everyone can match the day of. That seems to undermine the point of raising the $25 for the shirt and while I understand that not everyone has that kind of extra money, there needs to be some kind of visual representation for the kids that earned more (they give pedometers to the kids who raise more than $75 but that isn't something that people just looking can tell, besides, most kids don't care about pedometers). My suggestion is to have white shirts for the kids who don't raise the money. Then have colored shirts for the kids that do. That way, everyone has similar shirts but it is easy to tell who put forth any kind of effort towards the fundraising, which is the whole point of the event.

Now for the fun part.

We had several great exhibitors that taught us about ways to go green. Among them were the Twike


And the Segway


I got to ride the Segway and it was fun. Easier than I expected and I even got up a fair amount of speed on it. Then I tried to turn and got yelled for going to fast while I turned :)

The Boy paused for one moment to let me take his picture


Some people brought a segment of wall from a straw bale house. They let the ids smear mud on it, which is how they seal it. TB was unimpressed



For the walk, we were joined by Mayor Jerry Schweighart


And Senantor Mike Frerichs


These are the kids lining up to take off for their part of the walk


There is an arts competition that the school participates in each year called Reflections. It can be any type of art and this year's theme is "WOW!". TB decided to compete in the photography division and is doing his project on the walk. We too his camera but for some reason it wouldn't come on. The rules are VERY clear that all the pictures must be shot by the student so I grudgeingly handed over my good camera for him to use during the walk. I insisted that he walk and stay close and he did a great job. Most of his pictures are better than mine :)
As proof that I was there, I give you his picture of me :)



And finally, not really to do with the walk but I did take the picture there (thanks to public health for bringing these to my attention), one of the funniest things I've seen in awhile, specially for Quigs, I give you


Giardia! You can see other giant microbes, including those for ear infection, chicken pox and bad breath at Giant Microbes