By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—Greystone Elementary School students, families and teachers alike stopped by the school on Saturday morning, Jan. 24, to participate in the first-ever Hot Chocolate Run.

Waffle House provided hot chocolate for the event and Greystone Elementary School physical education teachers set up 1.3-mile and 1-mile courses across school grounds and through the building. Music played in the gym to encourage runners as they completed their course.

“It was a fun kids’ course,” Greystone Elementary School P.E. teacher Leta Hoit said. “It was very festive.”

Running is an important part of P.E. class at Greystone Elementary School, Hoit explained. Students run during class and several third, fourth and fifth grade students also participate in a morning running club.

The Jan. 24 Hot Chocolate Run was a fun way to involve the entire Greystone Elementary School community, including parents and teachers, in a healthy activity.

“Our main goal is to get them together, exercising and being active together as a family unit,” Hoit said. “It was just a big family event.”

The Hot Chocolate Run was not only a fun family event, it was also a fundraiser. The P.E. department sold shirts to raise money to purchase bowling kits for the annual bowling unit taught in P.E., Hoit explained.

“The money is going to purchase in-school bowling kits,” Hoit said. “It’s an every year unit and the kids love it.”

The Hot Chocolate Run was a twist on a longstanding Greystone Elementary School tradition, the Jingle Bell Run, which usually occurred before the school’s Christmas vacation. However, with the busyness of the Christmas season, school faculty decided to change the date of the run, Gerystone Elementary School Principal Dr. Kathy Wheaton said.

With the success of this year’s event, Hoit said she hopes to see the Hot Chocolate Run continue and become a Greystone Elementary School tradition.

“It was just a way to get your Saturday started,” Wheaton said. “It was one of those laid-back fun days.”