October 14, 2004

Los Alamitos “Rocked ‘N Walked” for a good cause

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

Cropped blue jeans, white shirts with rolled-up sleeves, penny loafers and leather jackets were back in style last Saturday, as Los Alamitos teachers dusted off their 50s garb to twist and turn in true sock-hop style.

The performance is an annual October tradition, marking the start of the school’s largest fundraising event of the year—the walk-a-thon.

Each year, students canvass the community, collecting pledges from family and neighborhood friends, while parent volunteers solicit gift certificates, trips, and memberships from local businesses and coordinate themed class baskets for the popular silent auction.

Although the hair gel and ponytail scarves have been put back in storage, the final tally isn’t yet known and pledges are still being collected. But the frenzied bidding on class baskets, magic shows, cooking classes, decorating, faux painting, a weekend cabin trip in the mountains—even a certificate for a Botox treatment—have school officials hopeful that they will top last year’s silent auction figure of $16,000.

Coupled with the efforts of over 500 enthusiastic pairs of legs that walked more than 5,700 miles and earned more than $56,000 in 2003, the walk –a-thon continues to be their largest combined fundraising effort—a growing necessity, given the current budget crisis that has schools scrambling for alternate sources of funding for programs.

The daylong event also provides the Los Alamitos community with an opportunity to gather together and sit, walk, or bid for a common cause—their kids.