Running for education教育“奔跑者”

Enya Yang

位于普萊森顿的一个组织将毫无关联的跑步活动和教育联系在了一起。

The Pleasanton Partnerships in EducationFoundation （PPIE） was started in1987 to raise money for local schools.Based in Pleasanton， California， a suburbof San Francisco， the nonprofit recentlyhosted a familyfocusedfitness event forthe community.

“Our event helps to bring the communitytogether，”said Mindy Louie， eventsand outreach manager for PPIE.“We havemore than 3，000 participants， hardworkingvolunteers， and spectators.”

This year’s fitness event took place onApril 30 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds.It featured races of two miles， fivekilometers， and ten kilometers. A new KidsChallenge consisted of a quartermilerunto encourage younger children to participate.When asked to describe the run， 11yearoldJeremy Louie said，“Fun， exciting，and enjoyable.”Jeremy added that hewas happy to help support his school.

The PPIE supports all 15 schools inthe Pleasanton Unified School District，which includes more than 14，500 studentsand 800 teachers and staff. The nonprofitstrives to fund education programs affectedby budget cuts， while encouraging fitnessand athleticism. To date， the PPIE hasraised $1 million for the school district.

A local runners’ group called theBurn Youth Development （or B.Y.D.） participatedin the fundraiser. The B.Y.D. beganat the start of the coronavirus pandemicto encourage local kids to stay fit.

The B.Y.D. has since grown to includemore than 100 youth members， 30 ofwhom ran in April’s PPIE event.“TheB.Y.D. was born in the darkest days of thepandemic to keep kids active，”explainedJerry Wu， the group’s founder and leadingcoach.“Watching them running strong andhappy makes me smile every time.”Wuencourages teamwork and teaches the studentsvaluable running techniques.

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What’s the purpose of PPIE？