Over $48,000 was raised by Cascade Ridge families, friends and community! The proceeds from this event will ensure Cascade Ridge will continue to offer programs and curriculum that make it one of the top elementary schools in the state. Thank you for your generosity!

Friday, October 26th marked the end of Spirit Week and time for the Coyote Crazy Wild West Walkathon. Coyote spirit had been building all week long. Each day the anticipation grew and finally on Friday, Mrs. Fowler gave the final “Giddy-Up” to begin walking laps and enjoy a great afternoon. New this year was a greater emphasis on walking laps. Boy howdy! The students took that challenge to heart and did not disappoint. Each grade had a winning class that will receive a frozen yogurt reward party, courtesy of YoPlateau, in November. Here are the class winners:

Kindergarten: Carroll (133 laps)
1st grade: Quinton (203 laps)
2nd grade: Marckx (210 laps)
3rd grade: Shawver and Trull. These two classes not only tied, but had the most total laps overall
with 344 laps!
4th grade: Goree-Ndiaye (248 laps)
5th grade: Page (269 laps)

At approximately 2:45 the kids took off in their Coyote Crazy T-shirts (student designed!) and began circling the building, earning prizes for laps and snacking on treats. Our event DJ, parent Del Chinn, set a festive mood with exciting music which continued throughout the event. Several teachers were “arrested” and taken to “jail” by our own Cascade Ridge Sheriffs – Mr. Roni, Mr. Schnebele, and Mr. DiMeco and the kids enjoyed doing silly tasks to make bail. Soon after, the carnival games inside the school began, Ben & Jerry’s employees were scooping ice cream, kids were face painted and many had tinsel tied in their hair. Students were found concentrating and making their best guess at the candy guessing jars. The festivities continued with an appearance by the University of Washington Husky and more dancing fun. Parents, students and staff enjoyed homemade cookies, cupcakes, brownies, caramel apples and beverages. Cascade Ridge Bakers provide the best for our concession stands time and time again.

The Silent Auction raised nearly $8,000! Many of the items and experiences were donated by Cascade Ridge’s outstanding teachers and staff and also generous families and community members. The silent auction table was always abuzz with parents pondering their bids. And no Western event would be complete without feeding the hungry cowpokes. The Chuck Wagon was bustling, serving up Qdoba burritos and JetCity pizza.

As the rain set in on the Coyote Corral and our big event wound down to a close, we couldn’t help but smile at how lucky we are to have such a fantastic community!

To Mrs. Fowler, Principal: Thank you for your tremendous support and enthusiasm throughout the entire process. Thank you for pitching in where needed and even working in the Café!

To our Teachers and Staff: Thank you for your enthusiasm and involvement from helping with communications, sporting your western duds and joining us for the Walkathon festivities. The students really enjoyed their time with all of you! A Special thanks to the school Outlaws, too.

THANK YOU to our Walk-A-Thon Planning Committee Extraordinaire:
Helen DiMeco – PTSA VP, Fundraising - Corporate Sponsorship
Melanie Kusmik – Walkathon Chair
Robin Klym – Walkathon Assistant Chair
Mary Jo Webb - Communications
Leanne Brazier – T-shirts
Katy Chung – Carnival Games
Rachel Schnebele – Outdoor Entertainment
Blythe Mercer – Indoor Concessions
Kim Moore – Outdoor Concessions
Chrisann Penz – Silent Auction
Erica Dunn – Spirit Week
Tobi Roni – Walking Course
Kathy Boll and Betsy Matias – Photography
Angie Lukens – Volunteer Coordinator
Krystl McCandlish – Pledge Management & Wall of Appreciation Coordination
Jaime Foreman, Laurie Jones and their amazing committee
Sally Andrews - Press
Alesia Romero and all face painters
Blythe Mercer and all tinsel tiers
Rajeev Goel – Webmaster

Your dedication and time spent during the planning, preparation and execution of this event paid off! The success of this fundraiser can be directly attributed to your hard work and the special talents each one of you brought to the committee. We truly appreciate your amazing commitment. Thank You!

To the Walk-A-Thon & Fall Festival Volunteers:
This was truly a community event and not possible to execute without the generous gift of your time and effort. We had over 150 volunteers! The day of the event many of you worked on Set Up, Clean Up, First Aid, Cheer/Goodie Stations, Lap Stampers, Kitchen, Concessions, Photographers, Carnival Game Workers, Student Volunteers, Walkathon Reps and Special Requests. Wow! We should be really proud to be a part of a school that has this kind of family involvement! Thank you!

Thank you to our Community Supporters:
YoPlateau-Disney Mathnasium-AquaQuip - Barre3 - Fun4Kids - JetCity Pizza - Qdoba
MCH – City Fish – Anna Lisin, Lake Sammamish Family Dentistry – Springfree Trampoline – Blink Product Designs
Alberstons – Banic Chiropractic & Massage – Cathy Santiago, Windermere – Issaquah Soccer Club – Pacific Landscape Management – Sammamish Little League – Zeeks Pizza – Benchmark Motoring – Hot Yoga – QFC – Learning Rx – Swedish – Edgebrook Swim & Tennis Club – Walters & Wolf – Henry & Mei – Gina Mazzaferro Photography –
Arena Sports – Ben & Jerry’s – SAMBICA – Cubert’s Writing Cube – Pure8Yoga – Washington Awards – Usborne Books – Safeway – Ghirardelli – DfinePersonal Training – Issaquah Village Theater – American Girl – Flat Iron Grill – Nintendo – Lia Sophia Jewelry – Fran Fizelle, John L. Scott Realty – Klahanie Fitness – Karate West

Thank you for supporting Cascade Ridge!