Bowmar Elementary special education teacher Emily Williams and first-grade teacher Kimber Callen have taken their love of exercise and children to combine them into an exciting school activity.

Williams is training to run a St. Jude half-marathon in Memphis, Tenn. Dec. 5., and while the teachers were supposed to run together, Callen has been sidelined with a pregnancy. However, the teachers have got their classes involved by working toward a goal of walking 13 laps around the school’s playground.
“About six weeks out from the race, we started walking three laps around our track, so we added three each week,” Williams said. “They enjoy being outside and playing and having a good time. It’s something fun for them.”

Before their Thanksgiving break, students were up to nine laps around the track.

As part of a service project, the teachers wanted to be a source of connection to their students by showing students how they can contribute their service for a greater cause.

“Instead of raising money for St. Jude, they would see it through us and we’ll be their connection,” Callen said.

Williams will wear a race bib with the message “Teach. Run.  Serve” across the front. To go along with the students walking laps, she’s made similar bibs with the phrase “Learn. Walk. Serve.”

“As teachers we want to teach them the value of putting everything together in servicing of others,” Williams said. “We just teach them the awareness of how they can be a leader in many ways, not just academically.”

Students cheer on as their classmates walk around the playground. They form a circle on the perimeter of the track and high-five their classmates while they make their rounds.

The encouragement from students is one of the reasons Callen enjoys working at Bowmar.

“What I like about Bowmar is how small it is and how everything is like a family atmosphere,” Callen said. “You can have older grades working with younger grades and everybody works together.”

Williams is more than familiar with the work of St. Jude volunteer efforts as a member of Delta State’s chapter of Delta Delta Delta sorority and the birth of her own son.

Her son was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s disease, a condition of the large intestine that causes difficulty with bowel movements. His intestines were paralyzed and underwent surgery to remove the paralyzed portion.

Williams’ son is now in good condition and has received a year of clearance.

“I understand as a parent to have a sick child as a newborn and at 8-years old that has to go back and forth to appointments and stays in the hospital,” Williams said. “I kind of connected as a mom too.”