Greetings, GreenMount Community,
We
had an interesting morning today. Our
seventh and eighth grade students, some of their teachers and a good many very
brave parents set off in the rain for Rocky Gap in Western Maryland and four
days of camping.
Just to be
clear, our students are not staying at the Rocky Gap Resort and Conference
Center. They will get off at the next
exit for the campground, which is actually in Flintstone, Maryland. I understand that they will be staying in
rock cabins with showers that are fueled by mammoths. The camp counselors, Mr. and Mrs. Rubble,
will be teaching the students many things about rocks, including how to drive a
foot-pedaled car made of wood and stone.
Ms. Elizabeth will also be along to lead the kids on hikes and discover
the natural world of the western part of our state. A return trip includes a tour of Sidling
Hill, which is a great place to see some plants that grow nowhere else in the
world and to see great examples of fossils exposed when “the cut” was made
creating a road west right through the mountains. The weather forecast looks better for Western
Maryland than it does for here, so we hope they drive into some sunshine today.
We
were also privileged today to host Larry Kimmel, the founder of Team
Larry. Larry is a two-time cancer
survivor and has been running 5K races for 16 years to support the Hopewell
Center, a free cancer support facility for patients, their families and
friends. Larry spoke at our Monday
Morning Meeting to celebrate GreenMount’s role in raising money for the center
and for participating in this year’s 5K run. Recently, Chris Cucinotta and
Genny Dalton established a new club at GMS to encourage running as a sport and
healthy pastime. This club became one of the most popular clubs we have ever
had, with many students joining and running every day. The culmination of the club’s experience was
the Hopewell run and being part of “Team Larry”. Amazingly, the team raised over $14,000, with
Angelina Cucinotta raising about $11,000 of that by herself. Wow!
Larry made a presentation to our school from the “Reach Out and Run 5K”
because we were the largest team in the race.
I am told that one of our students on the team, Will Kardas, came in
first for the team. And that was with having to stop to tie his shoes
twice! Seeing Will come in the building
every morning, I can understand why he was in first place in this run.
My doctor told me that jogging could add years to your life. I think he was right. I feel ten years older already! – Milton
Berle
P.S. - Don’t forget to plan on
attending the parent meeting next Monday at 6:30.
Cheers,
Steve
