May 13, 2004

Graystone community steps out for fund-raising walkathon

By Alison van Diggelen and Lorraine Gabbert
Special to the Times

The 1979 Sister Sledge classic, “We are Family,” belted across the playing field during Graystone Elementary School’s annual walkathon and silent auction last Saturday. It couldn’t have been a better theme song for a school that prides itself on community and strong family ties. About 350 children, their parents, grandparents, and teachers, walked, jogged and danced their way around the track.

The feeling of exuberance was infectious as hoards of children passed through the lap counter check point. Third grader Sabrina Aujla, who was walking with her grandmother, Inderjit, said, “The best thing is getting exercise with friends. It’s cool that my grandma is here.” Attending his ninth Graystone walkathon, Shomit Ghose, father of three, enthused about the sense of community, “We also like it because the kids can see how they contribute to the school.”

This year’s fund-raiser was allocated to “Save Our Programs,” an amalgam of special programs offered at Graystone, including science, music and media/library. The event grossed over $38,000; the silent auction accounting for approximately $16,000. “We are very grateful to our 26 corporate sponsors who donated almost a third of the proceeds to the event,” said Terri Gong, coordinator for Business Sponsors. Katherine Cance, silent auction brochure coordinator, enthused about the generosity of parents. “When you see bids for gift certificates going over the actual value, you know that people came to give to the school.”

The silent auction offered more than 200 diverse items. Contributions ranged from weekend cabin getaways at Lake Tahoe (donated by parents), to gift certificates for local businesses, and baskets of themed items (for coffee lovers, gardening enthusiasts, camping and board game fans, etc.) assembled by teachers and their classes. Families paid up to $85 for their children to have lunch with a teacher.

Another popular entry was a “Horse Lovers” collection collected by Miss Lander’s third grade class, featuring a three-foot toy horse with saddlebags bursting with horse-themed goodies. Bidding was brisk and the Johnson family was the lucky winner with a generous bid of $425. One parent said she stopped bidding on a signed Shark’s photo when she realized she was up against a young boy using his own money.

Jennifer Deghuee, who has been chairing or co-chairing this fundraiser the past five years, was lauded by an enthusiastic team of coordinators. “Jennifer is amazing,” said volunteer coordinator Allison Medlin. “She has an incredible energy level and a positive attitude. Her catchphrase is ‘it’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.’” Throughout the day, Deghuee ran between the silent auction, the food stands and the walkathon track, checking that everything was running smoothly. When asked how many hours she puts in before, during and after the event, Deghuee laughed heartily. “I don’t do this for the accolades, just for personal fulfillment and interacting with all the fantastic people in this school and community.”

Deghuee admitted that her second grader, Sam, is not delighted about her involvement. Since she’s so busy running around, she doesn’t have the opportunity to walk laps with him. “But, we all make sacrifices,” she said. “That is the hardest part for me. But in the end, he’s playing the recorder at school. It’s fund-raisers like this that make music enrichment possible.”

“This is a great school,” said Valerie Haaland, mother of kindergarten twins Andrea and Rachael. “I just wish we didn’t have so many budget cuts. But there are a lot of people out here who are willing to give time and money.” She spent some time on Saturday checking out the large array of choices in the silent auction, while her girls walked laps with their friends. “Fund-raisers are imperative at this time, otherwise we wouldn’t have some of the programs,” she added.

Eight children walked or ran more than 20 miles on Saturday, buoyed on by the cool breeze, the funky music and their own personal goals. The long distance winners were Preston Choi, Brenten Easton, Michael Porter (second grade); Peter Mason (third grade); Jacob Ley, Rohan Varma (fourth grade); and Sherwin Tavakol, Jonathon Clausen (fifth grade). An honorable mention went to kindergartner Gaurav Varma, who came close.

Many children came straight from sports games, still full of oomph. Christopher Nicholson, a third grader dressed in his baseball gear, said, “I want to do 100 laps this year. I run, and then I walk to save energy.”

“I like this walkathon because every time you run 25 laps, you get tickets and you can buy things at the Spirit Shop. And I get 25 cents for every lap,” second grader Ross McFadyen said as a big smile spread across his freckled face. “Oh, and I also love the water fights!”

For retiring Principal Jerri Kazmierczak, Saturday’s walkathon was especially poignant. She expressed the sentiments of a well-admired leader who is leaving the haven of a close-knit family.

“I can’t really look at things like this as my last walkathon, or last anything…or I will cry,” Kazmierczak said.
Alison van Diggelen is a resident of Almaden and editor of www.siliconmom.com.