St. John’s Lane Elementary School does the Turkey Trot

By Cathi Higgins
Posted: November 26, 2008

Christina Bodziak, Maddie Hammond and Danielle Bodziak, from left, enjoy the second annual St. John’s Lane Elementary Turkey Trot Nov. 9, which also helped collect canned food for the Maryland Food Bank.

St. John’s Lane Elementary School’s second annual Turkey Trot was a huge success with over five hundred family members participating Nov. 9 to walk, run, and waddle around the track to promote healthy living within our community.

The event, sponsored by the school’s PTA, was organized by Caroline Bodziak, Health and Wellness Committee chairwoman, and committee members Chris Campbell, Laurie and Matt Zuiderhof, Stella Hoffman, Amy Cargiulo, Patti LeConte, Terry Purnell, Bob Betlejewski, Amy Holland, Amy Hammond, Sonya Vasilios, Beth Snyder, Jill Hodge and Christa Kampert; with help from school Principal Deborah Jagoda, Assistant Principal Vicky Sarro and staff members Carl Frantz, Tina Harkness and Keri Esposito. Special thanks also go out to Cub Scout Pack 944 and the school’s fifth-grade choir.

The Turkey Trot included a half-hour fun run/walk, dancing, raffle prizes and announcement of the Golden Turkey Award Winners for each grade that collected the most canned food for the Maryland Food Bank. This year’s canned food drive doubled the school’s efforts from last year with 2,121 food items collected.

Golden Turkey Award winners were Penny Wright’s kindergarten class, Suzy Pino’s first-grade class, Valerie DeVincent’s second-grade class, Aimee Kirby’s third-grade class, Kelly Rippeon’s fourth-grade and Lauren Beaman’s fifth-grade class.

The students trained for the event during their Walking Wednesday program, a year-long activity where students can run or walk during recess and challenge themselves to “Race Across the States.” The runners and walkers are working toward completing their own personal 26.2-mile marathons. Incentives, in the form of plastic charms, are given at mileage markers that represent typical race lengths 1 mile, 5k, 10k, etc. with the goal to reach a full marathon of 26.2 miles.

“The students love to rack up the Walking Wednesday charms and wear them proudly to school and throughout the community,” committee member Laurie Zuiderhof said.

Each student who participated in the Turkey Trot received a turkey charm to add to their Walking Wednesday chain. The student body’s cumulative miles will take them around U.S. cities that play host to fun, famous or unusual marathons. The kids started their journey in Baltimore, highlighting the Baltimore Marathon that took place in October.

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