Lakeshore Celebrates Mindfully Active Community

One step at a time.  This is the mind set three children at Lakeshore Elementary used to achieve their goal of walking/running 100 miles during recess.  Determination, focus and good old-fashioned tenacity proved to be the winning combination for Erin Zelazoski who was the first Lakeshore student to reach the milestone of 100 miles in December.  Erin said, “At first I thought it would be impossible to get to 100 miles, but then I realized how quickly the miles added up and now I’m the first person to get this achievement at my school.”

Dalton Phelan showed a lot of heart and celebrated his 100th mile on Valentine’s Day. “It felt good to finish the 100 miles. I was interested in it and it was a new goal for me.  Some days were hard, especially cold days running in snow pants.  I never thought of giving up though and if it felt hard I told myself I could do it, and I had fun with friends.”

Sullivan White celebrated on March 3 with the entire school. “I figured it would be good exercise.  I knew only a few people had done it. I was motivated by running and doing a good job with my friends.”

As part of all of the celebrations, the entire school came out and ran the last mile with each child.  Each grade level ran one lap with Erin, Dalton and Sullivan to help them reach their 100th mile.

Every elementary school in Fond du Lac participates in the Cardinal 100 which is a run/walk program students can participate in during their recess.  The goal is to reach 100 miles before the end of the school year.  For every 10 miles the students complete, they receive a numbered token to help them keep track of their mileage.  After every recess the students record their laps on a chart.  When the goal is reached, each student receives a red shirt with the wording “Cardinal 100, I ran 100 miles.”  In addition to the Cardinal 100, each school will be increasing opportunities for students to be active at recess through experimenting with athletic equipment, training, and other resources provided through Fond du Lac’s PEP grant, MAC (Mindfully Active Community).

“I couldn’t be more proud of these Lakeshore students for accomplishing this phenomenal goal!  Their motivation is inspiring to students, staff and parents. It is truly remarkable what students can do when they put their minds to accomplishing something like the 100-mile club.  The amount of initiative the students demonstrated to attaining this huge goal says a lot about their character, drive, and how they value physical activity!”  shared Beth Olson, Lakeshore Physical Education teacher.

Pictured above: Beth Olson, Lakeshore’s Physical Education teacher, congratulates some of the newest Cardinal 100 members on the Lakeshore playground (L-R): Sullivan White, Erin Zelazoski, and Dalton Phelan.