16 Manchester students participate in Cooper's 5K Fun Run

Photo courtesy of Julie Charney.

On Friday, May 13th sixteen special education students from Klager Elementary School and Manchester Middle School participated in Cooper’s Annual Fun Run & Walk in Hudson Mills Metro Park. This annual event was originally started by Nancy Cooper in 1984 as a way to promote physical fitness in her special education students. Over the years it's grown. This year more than 1,100 athletes participated in the annual event. The participants run or walk the park’s 5k course for a blue ribbon or they can push themselves to complete a 10k for a trophy.

For the 13th year in a row, Mrs. Sandi Fillyaw, Manchester Middle School's Special Education Teacher, has organized a field trip for her students to participate in the event. Mrs. Fillyaw stated, “It is a great way to promote physical fitness in children of all abilities while having fun.” This year, Ms. Charney, Klager Elementary's Speech Language Pathologist and Ms. Wier, Klager Elementary's Resource Room teacher, brought Klager students into the event. Ms. Charney noted, “The students had an amazing day. The day was a huge success due to the dedication of wonderful paraprofessionals and parents.” Everyone who participated is looking forward to next years event!

Ten of Manchester's sixteen participants completed the 10K!

Photo of Christie Taylor with her son Will at the finish line. Photo courtesy of the Taylor family.

Read a first-hand account here of the 5K event in a post by Manchester's Christie Taylor on her blog Wilingness.

photo courtesy of Julie Charney

photo courtesy of Julie Charney

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.