By: Trinity Pyle
The Gunther Run is a 5k run around Sandia High School that has been going on for four years. This year, Sandia got a student success grant with our feeder schools. Kyle MacDonald, the assistant principal of student success, really led the effort. He worked with Sebastian Romero, the dean, and some others who historically have been working on the Gunther Run. The Gunther Run is a very important run in memory of an amazing teacher, John Gunther, who was a math teacher and baseball coach at Sandia before he passed away. Principal Camille Gonzales referred to him as ̈A phenomenal teacher and a very inspirational coach. He was just a really good person. He impacted a lot of students and impacted his colleagues. And his loss was really hard.¨ Not only was he a teacher and a coach, but he was a runner, so Sandia decided to do a 5k in his honor and raise money that will go toward a scholarship for a senior every year.
This year's senior was Zoe Allen. She participated in The Gunther run for the past two years, so she knew of the scholarship available. Knowing that information, she and her parents met with Charles Vapalka to talk about options for funding her college education. Allen states, ¨In preparation for applying to the scholarship, I made a list of my activities and involvements in both Sandia´s community and the larger city community. I took my time to write my essay response and submitted it to the counseling office by the deadline.¨ After winning the scholarship, Allen says, ¨It felt great to find out that I was awarded the scholarship. It is wonderful to have worked so hard and participated throughout my high school career to be recognized and awarded the scholarship¨ Allen plans to major in biology and minor in veterinary sciences with this scholarship money. Allen states, "I would recommend that people take the time to get involved and participate in a wide variety of activities throughout their time in high school. This could be things like sports or clubs or academics or even outside work, but all of those things make you a better candidate for receiving scholarship and becoming an overall better person.¨ She also would like to give thanks saying, “I would also like to once again extend my wholehearted appreciation to the Gunther family for providing me with this opportunity and continuing his legacy. I hope to honor his memory by working hard, setting goals, and persevering in my attempts to achieve these goals.¨
People who donated $20, received a shirt and the rest of the proceeds go towards the scholarship fund. The Gunther Run was really successful with a good turn out, despite the chilly weather. Gonzales states, ¨The beauty of the Gunther run to me is seeing how many groups on campus come together. There were student senators, cheerleaders, band, choir, baseball, dance, football, and softball teams all there so it's just really nice to see all these groups come together.” The Gunther run was partnered with a mental health resource fair on the soccer field when they're done. Gonzales says, ¨It's really nice because there are some representatives there and support throughout the community and it would be really nice to get even more organizations in to have booths there to give more information.¨ The Gunther Run is an annual run that we hope will continue to grow momentum.
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