Running for Students

What better way to start a week than by running. Students and supporters woke up bright and early on Sunday March 16th to go running to raise money for scholarships. The 5K run, hosted by the Kiwanis of Cooley Ranch, is in its 2nd year and helps provide scholarships to high school students within the Colton Joint Unified School District including Washington High School and Slover Mountain High School. The Kiwanis of Cooley Ranch is the same organization that gave birth to the Success by Choice (SBC) Program at Washington High School. This year, Success by Choice had over 19 participants supporting the cause of raising money for scholarships. SBC has now become a district-wide program because students that were once at risk have made academic progress. Success by Choice is a mentorship program that provides fundamental support to at-risk students during and after high school to ensure their current and future academic success. The purpose of the program is to increase the likelihood that first-generation graduates will pursue their post-secondary educational goals. This year, most of the participants were from Slover Mountain High School. The money raised will be used to distribute scholarships to all of the high schools in the CJUSD. The scholarships are used for any post-secondary high school program and each site that is awarded a scholarship is allowed to choose the recipient. The scholarship may be used for any fees associated with college registration including books and supplies. The other groups that came out to run were the Loma Vista Running Club, Bloomington High School Cross Country. There were 140 community members who registered for the race. On hand to assist in the event were police explorers, fire explores, citizen patrol volunteers, Colton PD officers, and Kevin Williams of the fire department who donated his time and brought the fire truck along.