Stories And Inspiration

Sometimes it’s about opportunity. Shannon Poindexter knew that several other schools in her county participated in GO FAR and she didn’t want the kids at her school to miss out.

When the Monroeton Elementary School third-grade teacher approached another teacher about starting a GO FAR club, he didn’t have the time to add it to his schedule. She decided to tackle it herself. It didn’t hurt that she loves running.

Last spring she opened the club to third through fifth graders. “At first I was very concerned,” she said. “The students didn’t seem interested simply from fear of not being able to do it.”

Poindexter pumped up the program around the school and began to have about 50 kids come to practice faithfully. There were days when not many volunteers stayed after school to help, but they survived. They overcame other challenges.

The night before the group’s Rockingham race in April, Poindexter posted a message on her Facebook wall, describing their ten-week training: “We all tackled this 10 week journey together, we complained, we huffed and puffed when we had to increase our running, we were hot, we were sweaty, our feet hurt, we just wanted water, we just wanted to walk, we didn’t like the hills…we NEVER gave up, we pushed ourselves…we made ourselves proud.”

On race day, all of that hard work was worth it. “I had so many parents, students, and teachers express how glad they were that we had this at Monroeton,” Poindexter said. “Everyone loved it.” The runners were already talking about next year’s race.

Her students this year are already looking forward to GO FAR, which is a spring event at Monroeton for now. Some students are excited that they can participate this year now that they are in third grade.

Poindexter is excited too. “It is so much more than a race,” she said.