Chris Juarez needs some help.
Juarez, principal at Marie Curie Elementary School in University City, says cuts within the California school budget plan are forcing the school’s library to close beginning in the 2008-’09 school year.
“At the beginning of March, we were given Curie’s allocation, and it wasn’t even enough to pay for the teachers and principal,” Juarez said. “We quickly saw the question we had expected to be asking ourselves, and that was: What resources, including people, are the highest priority to keep in place for our students?”
Juarez explained that funding from California isn’t going to allow the San Diego Unified School District to continue its current funding levels. A reduction of somewhere around $80 million overall is required, he said.
On April 27, Juarez is going to run to try and save the school’s library.
He will compete in the Big Sur International Marathon in Big Sur, Calif. (www.bsim.org), and attempt to raise money through pledges to keep the library open for Curie Elementary’s approximately 600 students.
“This is my fifth year as principal of Curie. Prior to that I was an aide, a teacher, a peer coach/staff developer and a vice-principal,” Juarez said. “Curie was my first school as principal.”
Juarez is an active outdoorsman but fairly new to the concept of endurance running.
“I’d always been able to hike or bike uphill all day long, and in the last five years I’ve done some endurance biking events, but I was never a runner,” Juarez said. “A runner friend told me that it’s just like anything else ” it just takes practice. I never believed him, but it turns out he was right.”
In training for the Big Sur race, Juarez ran two half-marathons (Carlsbad and San Dieguito) earlier in 2008.
“There is no shower at work and my job requires me to be with people all day,” Juarez said. “Nobody wants to be around a sweaty, stinky principal. Except maybe sweaty, stinky kids.”
Juarez, along with Pia Sud, the school’s PTA president, have teamed up with a concentrated fund-raising effort.
The flier that Sud and Juarez published says that if the drive is able to achieve an average contribution of $50 per family, it will reach its goal.
All donations to the school are tax deductible.
Juarez said the fund-raising goal is $25,000.
“It is tough to know now how much is really needed to open the library,” Juarez said. “If we subtract out one hour a day that the school can fund on its own, we can come up with an approximate goal of $25,000. This would cover the average salary benefit formula that we’re required to use and keep the library open for the whole school day.”
Pledgers to Juarez’s efforts can give any amount per mile, while knowing the race will be 26.2 miles along the beautiful central California coast.
Juarez’s dedication and approach to modern elementary education is refreshing.
“I ran, with no pun intended, the idea by our staff and our PTA board and they were supportive and liked the idea,” Juarez said. “I think the idea of the principal running a marathon appealed to a lot of people because it tied in well with our push on health and fitness over the last several years.”
The school has weekly grade-level jogging and walking times done by both students and teachers. There is a jogging club in the mornings and students earn “Fast Feet” rewards. There are also new school gardens where students grow vegetables and then actually prepare them to eat.
Juarez also explained there is a new school health policy as well.
“We do not use food for rewards,” Juarez added. “Celebrations and parties with sweets are limited to three times a year. And there is much more focus on teaching health education.”
A copy of the race pledge form can be obtained from [email protected] and pledges can be turned in before or after the event. Pledges can be mailed to the school address and checks can be made out to Curie Elementary.
“I know that the vast majority of La Jollans do not have kids in school and might understandably feel that the issue doesn’t affect them,” Juarez said. “What is important are, first, we have a generation that is educated with appropriate health services, counseling, libraries, technology and support for kids at risk. Second, there is a generation that does not have access to those supports. The difference between those two scenarios presents ramifications for everybody.”
In relation to his upcoming run, Juarez said “stretch.
“I didn’t have a clue about running a marathon when I started,” Juarez said. “So I just started and learned, improving along the way, and I discovered that every step contained a metaphor to one’s personal or professional life.”
Curie Elementary School is located at 4080 Governor Drive, San Diego, CA 92122.
For more information, call (858) 453-4184.