Audio clip
Julie Wagoner
Westside Middle School students love the school's Renaissance program that rewards them for good attendance, behavior and grades, but the school needs help with the $2,500 yearly cost.
Neely Folsom, instructional support assistant at the school in Rocky Face, Ga., launched the idea of holding an annual fundraising run. She said it's called the "Rocket Race Classic" after the school's sports teams, the Rockets.
School officials said the Renaissance program expanded last year and costs rose.
Ms. Folsom and her fiancé ran last year in the Bradley Wellness Classic at Hamilton Medical Center and realized the community cross-section represented at a road race would be a good support base for schools.
"You get a lot of age groups," she said. "You get their parents, you get their grandparents, you get their aunts and uncles, and I thought that was the best way to involve not only the school but the community."
Forty people had signed up by the Oct. 5 early registration deadline, but Ms. Folsom hopes more runners show up early Saturday.
"This race would really support the kids because that's the only way we can continue doing it," she said.
The program awards points on for good attendance, behavior and grades. Rewards increase as students advance through levels of bronze, silver and gold, said Westside Middle counselor Julie Wagoner.
Bronze-level students get to attend a Renaissance dance. Silver-level students go to the dance and attend a carnival. The gold level adds a field trip, she said.
"We usually take between 25 and 30 students," she said of the gold-level trip. "This November we're going to the Tennessee Aquarium."
A poll last year showed more than 70 percent of Westside students thought the Renaissance program "encouraged them to make better grades and have good behavior," she said.
IF YOU GO
What: Rocket Race Classic
When: 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Late registration begins at 7:30 a.m.
Where: Westside Middle School, 580 LaFayette Rd., Rocky Face, Ga.
Entry fee: $25 for the 5K; $16 for the 1-mile fun run; $65 for a family of four
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
Or login with:
New Account