SDA school walks for new campus

Through 3,528 laps, the students of the Saipan Seventh-day Adventist School stepped closer toward a new campus. The Saipan SDA School held it’s 4th Annual Walk-A-Thon Fundraiser on April 17, and raised $1,877.29 for a new school site.

The event was held at American Memorial Park and involved students collecting pledge amounts for the number of laps they walked during the event. Students were appreciated for their participation and were awarded prizes for their achievements.

The following students were awarded prizes for walking the most laps:

* 1st Place – Michitaka Yoshida (9th Grade) – Walked 100 laps

* 2nd Place – Andrei Woodruff (6th Grade) – Walked 85 laps

* 3rd Place – Alex Lin (4th Grade) – Walked 82 laps

The following students were awarded prizes for raising the most funds:

* 1st Place – Danielle Zayco (4th Grade) – Raised $360

* 2nd Place – Arthur Manglona (Pre-Kindergarten) – Raised $170

* 3rd Place – Andrei Woodruff (6th Grade) – Raised $165.01

School principal Barbara Maycock said the school plans to continue the walkathon fundraiser.

“The walkathon is a great way to get our students involved in building our future. By participating in this event, our students are not just doing something good financially for our school, but doing something physically good for themselves through walking,” she said. “One of the goals of our school is to educate our students about healthy living through habitual exercise.”

Maycock feels confident that the school will reach its goal of relocating to a new campus. The school is looking for a site that is central on the island to provide more space and enable expansion to a 12th grade curriculum.

The school is currently located in two separate campuses—the Child Development Center is located in San Jose and the elementary campus—Kindergarten to 10th grade—is in San Antonio.

The SDA School is part of a worldwide educational system run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with over 1 million students from primary to university levels.

Overall top fundraiser student winner Danielle Zayco said she likes the walkathon fundraiser because it gives her a chance to exercise and be healthy. “It’s a good idea to move our school, so our whole school can be together,” she added.

Through the four walkathon fundraisers, the SDA students themselves have raised a total of $8,633.99 for a new campus. Other funds raised include Education Tax Credit donations from local CNMI business. The school is putting 50 percent of all ETC funds raised toward a new campus.

The school staff and board of directors expressed appreciation for the business community’s involvement in this year’s walkathon in providing prizes, materials, and funds toward this event. [B][I](PR)[/I][/B]