Elementary school students raise $1,000 for classmate

Without speaking a word, 7-year-old Janier inspired 750 elementary-school students to run as fast as they could.

Janier, whose last name wasn’t released due to his age, has a congenital heart defect. He’s a first-grade student at Idylwild Elementary School, located at 4601 SW 20th Terrace.

This year, he and his family will receive a portion of the $1,000 raised during the school’s third annual “Running Wild for a Cause Fun Run,” an event that raises money for sick Idylwild students and charities. Money also went to the Phoebe Louise Dooley Foundation, a childhood cancer charity, said Dena Robinson, the event founder.

At the event Friday morning, hundreds of tiny bodies clad in colorful parkas scattered around the basketball court. Students shimmied their way into the “criss-cross applesauce” position as instructed, faces scrunched as they looked longingly to the field on their left, waiting.

Six-year-old Ja’len, whose last name wasn’t disclosed by faculty due to his age, said it was his first year at the run, and he was most excited for the music.

“Footloose” and other songs that preceded the students by at least a decade roared over the speakers, controlled by DJ E-LO, better known as the school’s front-desk man Eric Lopez.

As Katy Perry’s “Roar” began to blast, a stampede of kids charged onto the grassy field.

The kids skipped around the field for about 20 minutes, flailing their arms and stumbling over each other until the DJ herded everyone back.

Administrators sold $10 T-shirts, $2 bracelets and parents made online donations to the American Heart Association program “Jump Rope For Heart” to raise money. Each year, the run raises about $1,000, Robinson said.

The run began in 2016 after sixth-grader Kylie Galloway-Soto was diagnosed in 2013 with Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer in the body’s immune system rarely seen in kids.

“She’s our inspiration,” Robinson said. “She’s a great kid, and I was like, ‘Well, let’s do something.’”

Chris Dixon, the 28-year-old Idylwild health education teacher, led the “Jump Rope For Heart” fundraising effort and helped Robinson plan all three Fun Runs.

Dixon said he’d been fundraising for “Jump Rope For Heart” before the Fun Runs existed. Now that he and Robinson are working on the programs together, he sees a greater interest from parents and students.

“The kids love it; the teachers love it,” he said. “The environment at Idylwild is like no other.”

About 750 Idylwild Elementary School students ran a mile and danced in support of a sick classmate Friday during the school's third-annual Running Wild For a Cause Fun Run.