Schools

Groton Middle Schools Race Across The Country

Who Can Finish 2,463 Miles First?

Michelina Pinto wants to win.

She'll run a virtual race across the country for the right to say her school - West Side Middle School- has faster runners than Groton's other two middle schools.

"We're finding out which school has the most athletic kids and who strives to work hard every day," said Michelina, 13. "Our school is kind of competitive with Cutler (Middle) and Fitch (Middle School), because we like to win."

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That's exactly what the physical education teachers in Groton had in mind when they organized the "Run across America," which started Thursday.

Tara Grove, physical education teacher at West Side, said the district's physical education teachers got together in December to talk about ways to improve student fitness. During fitness tests in November, fewer than 50 percent of Groton's middle school students completed the one-mile run in what is considered an acceptable time. 

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Mile-run goals vary, depending on a child's age and gender. But, for example, an eighth-grade boy is expected to run the mile in less than 10 minutes; an eighth-grade girl, in less than 12 minutes.

Grove said the physical education teachers knew that companies like Pfizer have employees compete against one another in races. They decided to try the same thing in the schools.

The teachers mapped out the distance from Groton to the Disney theme park in California - 2,463 miles - then figured out how many times around the gym equaled one mile in each of the schools. Then they started the students running.

At West Side, students run for four minutes at the start of each gym class, then record the number of laps on a spreadsheet. At the end of each day, the teacher calculates how many miles the students ran. Twenty-two laps around West Side gym equals one mile.

C.J. Alumbres, an eighth grader, ran 14 laps the first day.

"I want to be the best," said C.J., 13. "I guess, (because of) reputation. I want to be known for being athletic. Our school is full of athletic people."

Alumbres had the lowest time on the mile at West Side in November: 5 minutes, 59 seconds.

So far, students at the three middle schools have run 140 miles combined. They'll compete through the first week in May.

Grove said the winning school will have some kind of celebration, though she can't give details.

"We have't told the kids yet," she said, but added that they enjoy the competition. "They buy into it. It's so beautiful."


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