S.J. Preston Students Turn A Negative into a Positive

Elementary school math students know that two negatives create a positive and that is what the S.J. Preston students set out to do.

On Monday April 15, 2013, Principal Jeremy Barker and teachers Susan Spieholtz, Marissa Coulehan, Timothy Poole- DiSalvo and Jennifer Burkhardt had the students of S.J. Preston Elementary participate in their own marathon to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Research Institute.  Members of the Green Key Service Club helped organize “loose change” donation drives and raffled a signed baseball donated by the ever-gracious Harrison resident Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera.  The students collected over $3,000 for the worthy cause.

Mr. Barker pledged the donation, on behalf of his students, to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through his childhood friend, Ty Powers, who was running in his first ever marathon - the 2013 Boston Marathon.  Mr. Powers was running in memory of his father who had lost his battle with cancer and in support of his wife who had been diagnosed recently. The students of Preston participated in their own marathon on that fateful day and tracked Ty’s progress via GPS.

History would be written that fateful day and Mr. Powers was turned away by police at the 25 ½ mile mark of his 26.3 mile journey.

Mr. Barker persuaded Mr. Powers to finish the race at Preston school with members of the Green Key Service Club at his side.  The students presented Mr. Powers with his official Boston Marathon medal for finishing the race and a jumbo sized check.

“For me, it was a real moment of pride,” said Barker.  “To see our school community embrace this worthy cause and a person who is a great friend was a moving experience.  I am so proud of our Green Key Service Club’s efforts and pleased with the overwhelming response from the entire community of West Harrison.”