Sprint for School SuppliesSenior Anne Brafford of China Grove is majoring in Elementary Education at Catawba College and is striving to be a teacher. She knows from her student teaching experience this fall at Enochville Elementary School just how difficult it can be for some students to get the necessary school supplies they need to be successful in class.
Brafford discovered one way she could help remedy this situation in her home county was to write a grant. This member of Catawba's Student North Carolina Association of Educators (SNCAE) and former member of Catawba's cross-country team came up with the idea of a 5K Sprint for School Supplies. Thanks to an $825 grant she received from her successful NCAE grant application, the donations of local businesses, assistance from members of the local community, and her own hard work, Brafford will see her idea realized on April 19th in Landis.
The Sprint for Supplies will get underway at 9:30 a.m. on April 19th, beginning at the Landis Pool. There, participants who have paid the registration fee and made a donation of school supplies will run or walk along a 5K course. Their efforts will benefit Rowan County's Communities in Schools.
Participants should visit www.catawba.edu/schoolsprint5K or sportoften.comfor registration information. The registration fee is $15 if paid before April 16, and after April 16, it is $20. Participants who register on the day of the 5K Sprint for Supplies will be able to pay a $15 registration fee if they make a donation of a school supply.
Brafford
The grant funds, plus donations Brafford has solicited from local businesses, will provide race bibs, t-shirts, plaques, medals and refreshments for those participating. Sponsors include the Town of Landis and David Freeze of Rowan Runners, Goodman's Farm Supplies of China Grove, Ideal Janitorial Services of China Grove, Merrell Family Dentistry of Landis, Bradshaw Finance of Salisbury, Centerview Hardware or Kannapolis, The Forum of Salisbury, SA Sloop Heating and Air of Landis, Piedmont Alloy of Salisbury, and Windstream Communications of Landis.
During the '13-'14 academic year, Brafford, who is a West Scholar in Catawba's Ritchie Academy of Teaching, served as SGA executive board vice president and president of Kappa Delta Pi, the teacher education honor society. She has also been active on campus in the Lilly Center's Retreat Leadership Corps.
