Local Teachers run for a Cause

            Curing the diseases that can cripple the members of our society has been on the minds and in the steps of some of our mentors. Recently Mr. Church, Mrs. Furgeson, Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Penski, and Mr. Zubal found causes in which they feel very passionately about and found different ways to help the causes.

                Each mentor had their reasons for choosing the foundation that they endorsed.

In Toledo, Ohio on October 2^nd Church walked for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, JDRF. For Church juvenile diabetes hits a soft spot in his heart, considering that he has battled with the disease since he was fifteen. Church also conducted a fundraiser until October 1^st, the day before he went to walk in Ohio; the results of how much he was able to collect for the foundation was not reported.

If you have ever been watching a local television channel and happen to see a commercial for “Front Room Underfashions”, a store in Lansing on South Hagadorn road, you may take a closer look at the owners. Our own Mrs. Ferguson happens to have a very close relationship to the owner, her mother. Crystal Bliese, along with her best friend Judy Ferguson, own and manage the store. The relation that Mrs. Holly Ferguson has to the store is special to her. Front Room is designed for women who have undergone various types of breast surgery.

On Saturday October 23^rd Ferguson, along with her parents, sisters, brother-in-law, and niece walked for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K walk in downtown Lansing. This isn’t the first time that Furgeson has participated in the event though, she says she has been involved since it stared which was about ten years ago. Ferguson says she raised five hundred dollars for the American Cancer Society.  

Our own principal, Mr. Johnson, along with Mrs. Penski and Mrs. Penski’s brother-in-law and her daughter’s first grade teacher, ran the Detroit Marathon Relay Race in honor of Penkis’ daughter being the one of the four faces of the American Heart Association’s, Running 4 Heart, campaign. The team participated in the open co-ed division and finished 48^th out of 254 with a time just under four hours. Johnson ran the 6.6 mile leg and Penski ran a three mile leg.

Penski didn’t stop with just the Detroit Marathon though. On October 3^rd Penski along with her husband, children, brother, sister-in-law their newborn baby, and some friends ran the Big House Big Heart 5K; it was a fundraiser for the University of Michigan's Motts Children's Hospital and for us, the American Heart Association's Running 4 Heart Campaign.

“This was amazing - 25,000 runners, which was a pain dashing in and out of walkers for the first mile - every race finished by running through the players' tunnel where there were Michigan teams high-fiving runners and cheering them on and then through end zone and finished at the 50-yard line. And, yes, many of us wore our Spartan clothes and put a hex on the Wolverines,” Penski said about the race.

Mr. Zubal took to the streets of Chicago to run the Chicago marathon for the Tug McGraw foundation. The Tug McGraw foundation was established in 2003 to enhance the quality of life of children and adults with brain tumors and in 2009 expanded programs to include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, and Trauma Brain Injury, TBI.

Zubal says that he trained for over sixteen weeks and ran over six hundred miles to train for the race. He also said that the race didn’t go as planned but he was able to raise around 1000 dollars for the foundation. Zubal says that he will probably run the race again.

Eaton Rapids may not be a town known for its participation in large scale events, but its proved that the hearts of some of our teachers happen to be used to help a cause bigger than them selves.

Every spring our town does host a walk for Relay for Life. Hopefully the time and energy that our teachers have given to greater causes can inspire some students to give to a cause greater than themselves.