Students Run, Walk to Pay for Computers
Students at Park Oaks School in Thousand Oaks ran and walked a 200-meter track under warm skies Wednesday to raise money to buy computers and to wire classrooms for high technology.
“Some almost crawled,” said Shelley Ritchie, a physical education teacher and a PTA board member. “It got warm toward the end when we finished at noon.”
But she said nearly all of the elementary school’s 520 students participated.
PTA members who sponsored the event hope the jog-a-thon raises $6,000 to improve technology at the school. They will not know the exact amount raised, however, until the students return to collect money from people who pledged support.
The extra cash will help Park Oaks buy equipment so students in the computer laboratory do not have to share monitors. Also, the PTA hopes to have a computer in its library and in every classroom, Ritchie said.
“There are a lot of elementary schools talking to other countries online,” she said.
“We want to get up to par with everybody else out there.”
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