Some of you might remember the Jaycee Relays back in the days. The relays have gone through several name changes through the years depending on what organization is sponsoring the mega-event. This year they were called the Country Financial Kids Relays.
I normally coach a team or two for my wife, Loni Espinoza, who is a P.E teacher at Brush College Elementary. I wasn't able to coach a team this year due to an injury. I did, however, recover enough to volunteer the entire day on Saturday 20, 2017. I experienced helping set up in the morning; taking things down in the evening; taking team pictures after the races; transporting kids back to parents; answering questions for parents, and supervising kids under the tent. My wife kept me busy all day. And this was nothing compared to what these P.E. teachers do.
2017 Brush College Elementary P.E. Teacher, Loni Espinoza
Back in the 1980s my two boys ran in these relays and as a parent I had no clue what these P.E. teachers went through. Not only the entire day, but also the preparation it takes starting two months prior to this gigantic event. I've been married to my wife for over ten years now, and I can say that I have a pretty good idea of what P.E. teachers go through to prepare for this positive-community event.
Let's start with the time trials for each grade, first through fifth grade. The categories for each grade are boys, girls, and coed. That means every grade will have three teams with the fastest kids in the school. Time trials have to be executed for fairness of selections. The P.E. teacher coordinates the volunteers to help with time trials. The method my wife uses is, a volunteer will start two kids at a time while she clocks the times at the opposite end of the track. This process takes several days. The goal is to select the fastest kids and place them on the designated teams, girls, boys, or coed.
When the teams are determined, the P.E. teachers write out permission slips and send them home with the child so the parents can sign them. The relays are an extra curricular activity that P.E. teachers do for the kids, the teachers go beyond measures to make this a fun experience for parents and children.
When the teams are set and ready to practice they need coaches. Some P.E. teachers will need volunteer parents and some will do it all themselves. The volunteer-calling marathon or posting of volunteer-sign-up sheets starts for some P.E. teachers. Some schools are more blessed than others on helpful support from parents. I feel tremendously for the schools that don't have this support. I'm also very thankful for the parents that help these P.E. teachers out, you are recognized.
Much thanks to school staff that help out in coaching or other things. One year there was even a custodian that volunteered. My wife appreciates teachers like Victoria Berry and Dyanne Miller, who volunteered this year for Brush College.
Once the volunteers are assigned to coach a relay team, the P.E. teacher has to coordinate with them on options of when practices can take place. The relay coaches work with the kids on exchanges with first-and-second leg, second-and-third leg, and finally third-and-fourth leg. The baton exchanges are the most crucial part of the race. Any team that can master this technique in grade school will do very well at the relays.
Okay, so everything is going well and the practices are happening, often during a recess, or if the coaches coordinate a time after school, it's up to them to coordinate with their teams. Volunteer coaches are a huge help to P.E. teachers. Just when you thought things were set and rolling, a parent calls and decides they can't coach anymore for reasons -- it's life and it just happens. The scramble to find another coach starts as the time for the event is nearing. Sometimes a new coach is found and sometimes a volunteer or the P.E teacher ends up coaching two or three teams. My wife calls me when she needs me, one year I ended up coaching three teams. It's doable, but a tough challenge.
The coaching situation is taken care of -- great! All of a sudden a child decides they don't want to do the relays anymore, or a child gets injured, yep, another thing to deal with and adjustments to be made. Maybe there is a competitive parent that feels his or her child should be running in a certain team -- another thing to deal with. When I ask my wife, "What if this child doesn't show up on Saturday?" Her answer is always, "I'll deal with it then."
I keep forgetting that P.E. teachers do this for the kids. The excitement on a child's face to have an opportunity of representing their school in the biggest relay event is priceless. Some teams have new matching uniforms every year and some teams use the same t-shirts every year.
When everything is finalized and teams are all set for the races on a Saturday during the month of May, the P.E. teachers are ready for the real work to start. This year I decided to participate in the entire day with my wife, Loni. My son, Matt, is a P.E. teacher at Richmond Elementary and he also coaches basketball at McKay High School. This year was extra special because my son and wife were both going to be there all day.
Every P.E. teacher operates differently and might have their process in place of how they do things with their school and students. Speaking for my wife, the week before she stages some things in our garage. On Friday night she loaded up her car with the tent, the signs to post on the grandstands or on the tent, box of t-shirts, first aid kit, etc.
Early on Saturday morning we drove to McCulloch Stadium, which is where Willamette University plays their field games. Some P.E. teachers showed up earlier than 6:00 a.m. to set up. We showed up at 6:00 a.m. We unloaded the car and hauled everything to the Brush College Elementary assigned spot on the infield of the track area. My son was assigned the spot right next to us, fun! All P.E. teachers are pretty much cranking with a lot of hard work setting up their areas where the kids would meet and hang out while races were going.
2017 Early Morning Setup - Matt Espinoza with Step-mom, Loni Espinoza.
The organization of this event was mesmerizing. From the start, parents drop off their kids at a supervised-staging area where the P.E. teachers have a school sign held up while they wait for the kids to arrive. There is one full cycle for each grade, first through fifth. When all the schools had their specific grade teams ready at 7:45 a.m., a parade started down the track in front of the grandstand leading all teams to their respective tents. P.E. teachers were on full-working mode the entire day with the exception of a short lunch in the middle part of the day. Race number 1 started at 8:15a.m.
The flow of 95 races throughout the day was pretty amazing to see. There were many volunteers working at each staging area from the beginning of the races to the end of the races. After each race, some P.E. teachers, definitely my wife, coordinated team pictures and then delivered each relay team to their parents at another staging area. This year the child-pick-up area was organized even better than last year. Kids were returned to their parents safely after their race was over.
May Trucking donated boxes of water bottles to each tent in the field. Thank you May Trucking! Only people with a special-made wristband were authorized to come into the field area -- this was for security reasons and child safety reasons.
It was a long and tiring day and very hot in the afternoon. Every year is different, kids run in pouring-down rain, or strong winds. The weather could be 100 degrees or 30 degrees, the show must go on. Those days are even more challenging for the P.E. teachers.
Every race was exciting to watch and every kid seemed to try their best while running. The talent was amazing to see, especially the close racing that came down to the wire. Kids were doing their best no matter how fast they were -- fun to watch. The girl that was running and then lost her headband, stopped to pick it up, put it back on her head, and then continued running, was fun to watch. The kid that ran over her own teammate and landed on top, and then the kid got up and continued to run was also fun to watch. The kid that bypassed second leg and continued running to third leg was fun to watch.
You see people you know that you haven't seen in a long time, it's more than just kids' relays, it's also such a huge community event. The parking was not the best, but it seemed like people still made it without complaints. I looked up at the stadium seats and I saw the parents, relatives, and friends of the kids running. The smiles, laughs, and picture-taking episodes were enough to tell me that all of the hard work P.E. teachers go through is such a memorable reward for everyone there.
Only the qualifying teams of mostly fourth and fifth graders raced the Mayor's Mile, which is the 4 X 400 relay towards the end of the event. That race was also a fun and exciting event. One of the funniest events was the mascots' race. Some of the schools had their mascot in uniform run the 100-meter dash. This year the green man was defeated by the Salem Academy Crusader.
There were 51 schools participating this year and a total of 95 races. Teachers were there from 6:00 a.m. until the last race at 5:30 p.m. We were in the last race of the day along with my son's team. We tore the tent down and packed our stuff up. We drove to Brush College Elementary to unload all of the equipment, and the tent. By the time we got home it was past 7:00 p.m.
I personally want to thank all of the P.E. teachers out there that sacrifice their own time for the kids, the community, and their schools, I didn't realize what P.E. teachers went through until I married my wife back in 2005. I talked to a few P.E. teachers throughout the day on Saturday. Some needed hip replacements, some needed knee replacements -- wow, and they were still grinding hard all day. It was a true inspiration of the love they have for kids and for serving.
I hope that our school district continues to support our physical education curriculum, exercise is so important for kids, especially in today's technology world where it's so easy to get glued to the screen, iPhone, or video games and avoid exercising. The kids' relays are such an asset to the community, I always look forward to watching this event and in helping out where ever I can.
Congrats to all of the P.E. teachers and volunteers for making the world a better place for our kids.