The record heat didn’t discourage students at Robert Goddard Montessori School in Lanham from donning thick pajama pants and finishing a 5K pajama run June 8 in memory of their former principal, who died in June 2009.
About 500 of the school’s 550 students entered the second annual run/walk around the school that remembers Suzanne Johnson’s favorite day of the school year: pajama day.
The event also raises money for an outdoor classroom that will be dedicated to Johnson, who worked at Robert Goddard Montessori as a teacher, assistant principal and principal before she died of pancreatic cancer.
“I wanted to represent Ms. Johnson,” said Dayja Young, a fifth-grade student from Landover who wore a new pair of Smurfs pajamas for the run.
“She was a great principal because she cared about us, not just that we learn, but that we have peace.”
The students’ $2 entry fees, which generated about $1,300 last year and should bring in $1,000 or more this year, combined with a $2,000 contribution from the school’s parent-teacher-student association and donations from parents and the community will cover the nearly $5,400 cost of building the outdoor classroom in front of the school.
After this year’s event, the school should have just about enough to pay for the classroom, said Principal Kathleen Schwab. Surplus funds will be donated to organizations that research cancer.
The classroom, which was designed by a student’s parent to seat two classes of students, will include a hexagonal concrete stage with an inlaid mosaic, salt log benches, and a memorial stone and plaque, PTSA president Maxine Burris said.
“It’s designed to be an ongoing reminder of our principal and how Suzi Johnson dedicated her entire life to children and education,” Schwab said.
The classroom should be finished before the start of the 2011-12 school year and can be used for lessons, student presentations and speakers, Schwab said.
“It’d be a wonderful place for children to learn,” said Rasheeda Childress, who has two children attending the school. “With Montessori, you don’t have to be chained to your desk. An outdoor classroom will really emphasize that.”
The students, sweaty from running around the soccer and softball fields behind the school, said they are looking forward to having classes outside.
“You get to explore nature,” said Kanisha Harris, a fourth-grade student from Beltsville. “You get to discover plants. You get to explore the wildlife.”
The school’s sports, health and fitness committee started the 5K run/walk last year not only to memorialize Johnson, but also to demonstrate the school’s commitment to promoting physical health, said Carol Galloway, the school’s Spanish teacher.
“It’s a good way to end the year,” said Nia Evans, an eighth-grade student from Bowie who stopped by one of two water stations on the course.
“It’s made me have a different perspective on running. I see running as a challenge, not just as something tedious to do.”
abrownback@gazette.net
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