Savannah school raises thousands for ‘inflatable race,’ students
SAVANNAH, Mo. (KQTV) -- Efforts to raise money for a pair of students battling leukemia at Minnie Cline Elementary school in nearby Savannah came to a head Monday.
Staff members raised close to $14,000 for an "inflatable race," finally competing against each other in inflatable costumes Monday afternoon.
Much to the delight of students.
"It was just so exciting for us as well," said counselor Megan Beck, credited by Principal Tim Conn with doing a lot of the heavy lifting. "To see the kids get excited about something so selfless. And that number being raised."
Conn is heading close to solidifying year one in his role at Minnie Cline. Yet, he's not surprised by the kindness shown by the town and school communities:
"When I heard about... this community and this school and these groups of people," he said. "This was the epitome of what they describe. This is a community , and this is a school coming together... unselfishly and really providing for those in need. And just makes you very proud to be in the school district and the community that does something so aggressively important for our kids."
For those curious about race results -- Conn finished in first place.
"Well, at the risk of injury, I'm either going to win, or I'm going down trying," said Conn, "So, I think if the kids voted my to represent their class or picked me to run in the race, then I should run as hard as I can."
Counselor Megan Beck described how the efforts came together.
"So we really had, just a great sense of urgency to try to help these two students and their families," said Beck, "and we so we just started brainstorming ideas of how we can get the kids involved, and our families in our community to try to raise money to help support them in anyway that we could."
Conn reflected on what the efforts showed about the community.
"These. These kids, they care," he said. "...And these teachers, they care. And this community, we all care. And this is what happens when everybody cares."
