ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Those looking to help support a local school while having some colorful fun will soon have just that opportunity.
The MacArthur Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) will be hosting a 1-mile fun color run and 5K color run Friday, Sept. 18, with registration starting at 5:30 p.m. and the run itself starting at 6 p.m., and everything will be starting at MacArthur Elementary School at 925 S. Holly Drive. Registration, which can be done either ahead of time or that evening, is $15 for an individual runner and $30 for a family up to six people, and it’s $10 more for more people after that. Prizes will be given to the top three finishers, and the Kozie’s Ice sno cone stand and some other vendors will be there that evening.
MacArthur Elementary School PTO Secretary Destiny Strutt said planning for this year’s has been going on for a while.
“We’ve always been planning for this and keeping it in mind,” Strutt said. “We had our first meeting back in August, and that’s when we finalized everything for the event. We’re really big about involving the families in all of our school activities, so this is a great opportunity for students and their families to come and do something together and have some fun. And there will be a few different spots where everyone will be blasted with some color, so we highly recommend people wear something they wouldn’t mind getting dirty, and we would like it if people wore white so the colors really stand out. It’s a fun community event, and we’re welcoming everyone, not just MacArthur students and their families, so it’s a great way to connect with everyone. It’s a great night to get out and be a part of something.”
Strutt said it has been great seeing the event evolve the past few years.
“All of the money we raise goes back into the PTO, and we’ll use the money throughout the school year for different events for the students and for the teachers, things like teacher appreciation,” Strutt said. “We also provide yearbooks for the students at the end of the year, There are multiple places the money will go to help support the PTO.”
“I really enjoy the color run because it’s great seeing most of our families, especially our younger kids doing the one-mile route,” Olson added. “It’s really fun to hear the chatter and laughter and the families enjoying being out there, that’s something I really like. We have seen more participants each year, and I think it’s been really great to see more people getting involved with it. We also want everyone to know, it’s not only MacArthur families that are welcome to this, but anybody in the community or surrounding areas who wants to participate, they’re more than welcome to come join us. Everyone is more than welcome to come and either walk run or jog.”
And for those who are unable to attend the event but still want to support the school and the PTO, there are ways to do that.
“Anyone who wants to support the PTO and what we do, we totally welcome you. Anyone is more than welcome to be a sponsor for a future event or be a volunteer, we can never have too many volunteers,” Olson said. “We also have the information posted on our MacArthur PTO Facebook page, and there is a QR code where they can send the money if they would like to just donate or be a sponsor. They can scan that QR code, and that will take them to a page to fill out. We’d love to see this event continue growing and expanding and becoming an annual staple for the community. We want this to become an event people in the community put on their calendar every year and make sure to attend.”
“We’re also always open to feedback too, so if anyone wants to get in touch with us and make a suggestion for what we can do for future events, we’re always open to switching it up and making it better for everyone,” Strutt added. “We have a lot of teachers, PTO, and even some of the high school and college athletes who come out and help, so we love hearing feedback from people if there’s anything we can ever do to improve the experience.”
Overall, Olson said, it should be a great evening.
“We are taking registrations right now, and again, we’ll also be taking registrations and payments that evening of the event,” Olson said. “Bring your family and friends and just have fun with us that evening and get some great exercise too. And if anyone wants to keep track of what we’re doing at the school, they’re more than welcome to follow us on social media, because we frequently update people about our goings-on.”
