Students compete in school wide track day
<p>Karter Johnson competes in the long jump during the Plains Elementary School Track Day last week.</p>
PLAINS - Wednesday, starting promptly at 9:00am out by the Plains School track, grades one through five gathered for the annual Elementary Track Day. Parents and even high school students were invited to come watch and cheer.
The event was a day where all grades could participate in track and field events, where times and distances were kept. There were multiple types of individual and team races, long jump stations, and also Frisbee and softball throws. The high jump had to be canceled due to wet grass.
Linda Knight, the event organizer and the Physical Education teacher, said that approximately 170 to 180 students participated throughout the day.
“All the kids that are on the high school track team have all done this because it is mandatory,” Knight said, explaining that every student had to participate in a team relay, one track event, one field event, and then their choice of up to three more events.
Helping Knight were teachers who watched over their students, but the majority of her help came from Junior High (JH) students. At every station, the JH students organized the Elementary students and wrote down their times and distances. The youngest students wore paper tags, which described the sequence of their events and the JH students helped direct them from station to station. Aside from their official jobs, they helped cheer on the students and even gave pointers once in awhile.
“I couldn’t do it without my JH students,” Knight said.
As the students ran and jumped, there was an overwhelming amount of sportsmanship and cheering that took place. Classmates stood along the track line and cheered, and during some races some students even helped their friends finish the race.
“We talk about sportsmanship, it is one of my most important goals I have,” Knight said. She explained that along with teaching about what it means to be there for each other, and she also described going through the steps of teaching track and field rules, such as not crossing lines or cutting other runners off.
After three hours of events it was time for lunch. The track concessions stand opened up and students could eat with their parents, and everybody was allowed to rest and recuperate. Following the break-time, there were more running events, and then ribbons were passed out.
Knight said she wanted to really thank her support staff, “my ribbon, my announcer, my finish line, my starter support and the teachers that volunteered.”