Palisades Elementary students took turns cheering each other on during the Walk-a-Thon.
It was the 25th anniversary of the Palisades Elementary Walk-a-Thon, and the first held since 2019, but students rose to the occasion making it one of the most successful in this charter school’s history.
Event organizer Jamie Donner said, “The event on April 27 raised more than $75,000 from more than 1,000 donors. Money will directly benefit the school.”
The students were asked to find people to sponsor them. A person could donate a lump sum or pay for each lap completed in the allotted time of 20 minutes around the 1/12-mile track on the campus.
The top finisher, Grant Tyler completed 37 laps, which figures out to running more than three miles. Tyler said, “I had fun racing against my friends and we raised lots of money for our school!”
He edged out three fellow fifth graders. Alexaner Malayil ran 35 laps, Peter Cacciapaglie completed 34 laps and Michael Gabayan had 33 laps.
The top teacher was first grade teacher Mrs. Jodi Barbera, who ran 32 laps.
Neighborhood sponsors for the event were Loomey’s Toy Boutique (833 Via da la Paz) and Prima Cantina (15246 Sunset Boulevard).
Parent organizers, in addition to Donner, included: Jen and Kevin Pazirandeh, Robyn Taniguchi, Theresa Diamond, Helen Carvalho and Ruth Luk.
Parents at Pali Elementary, a LAUSD Charter School, raise money for staffing and enrichment programs. They emphasized a program such as the walkathon, allows students to take an active role in supporting the school (visit: click here.) and the parent group Palisades Enrichment Programs (PEP) (click here.).
These four fifth graders logged the most laps at the Pali Elementary event.