Good clean fun.

That’s how Viewmont Elementary students described their school’s bubble fun run which kicked off the school year.

“All the parents were blowing bubbles at you during the race,” sixth-grader Laykin Cheney said.  “I liked it this year, running with my friends. It was a friendly run, not competitive.”

Fourth-grader Addison Chatterton said her dad yelled for her to run, while her sister dumped water on her. 

“I couldn’t see much of anything with all the bubbles,” she said.

A confetti cannon started the run for each grade level to the tunes of a bagpiper. The runners began and ended by a tower of balloons. About 445 students and some teachers participated.

“It was crazy fun,” Addison said.

Principal Lia Smith was pleased with the day’s event. 

“The energy was electric all day; they had so much fun,” she said. “It served as our big PTA fundraiser. The main two things are to fund our new art literacy program where parent volunteers come in once per month, and they have an artist of the month who students will learn about and learn that art technique. We’re doing it our way, because we don’t have an art teacher, we don’t have an art class, but we want the students to learn about art and to bring that into our classrooms.”

The other main contribution from the fundraiser is for their monthly eagle experiences. 

Students can earn eagle tickets through positive behavior and then use those for experiences. For example, the school may have a magician or a pet day and they can use their tickets to be part of those experiences, she said.

Viewmont PTA President Taryn McDonough said those eagle experiences are scheduled monthly and offer a variety of experiences; from playing board games with high school students to learning about animation from a professional animator.

“The money also will go to all the PTA activities for the year that includes teacher support and student-supported activities like Red Ribbon Week, teacher appreciation and those kinds of activities,” she said.

Both McDonough and Smith appreciated the generosity of the community.

“We surpassed our goal; our goal was $10,000 and we ended up raising $11,200,” Smith said.

There were incentives to reach the amount, such as at $6,000, there was an impromptu schoolwide dance party in the hallways.

“We went outside of our classrooms and danced to the music. Eddie the Eagle came around and we danced the conga,” Laykin said.

Addison added there also were disco balls sparkling and it was a fun way to end of the school day.

Students will celebrate reaching $9,000 in late October by cheering on faculty wearing inflatable costumes in a footrace.

Smith said she was grateful at the race for the parents who showed up, many with bubble-generating devices, and cheered the students at the start and finish.

“We wanted it to be a day of community and to get parents back involved in our school since it tailed off during COVID,” said the first-year principal. “We had at least 100 parents come help, participate, cheer on the kids.”

McDonough said this was the school’s first bubble run, changed from a traditional fun run because in years past, the run got too competitive.

“We decided to switch it and do something fun,” she said. “I researched ideas and asked people, and the idea I ended up with was the bubble run. I told them at the beginning to enjoy it and if you want to run, come to the front. If you want to walk, go to the back, and they could do what they wanted with their friends, with parents using bubble machines and have that fun aspect. They loved it and we got positive feedback from parents.”

The temperature reached into the 90s that day, so students went around the Murray Mile, which was about 3/4-mile on school grounds.

“Afterward, the PTA gave the students water,” Smith said. “Most of them still had bubbles on them at the finish and were laughing, having fun.” λ