Who likes to dress up, run and support a local school at the same time?
On Sunday, Nov. 3 between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, parent volunteers with the Mountain View Parent Nursery School, will be hosting their 11th annual Down by the Bay 5K & Tot Trot. It is a family affair where children can run a small portion of the park while parents can go on a for a few miles.
Kelly Van Bruggen, the current co-president and a parent volunteer with MV Parent Nursery School, said the event is a great place for the community to be active and be in a place with good energy. Van Bruggen said that people have a silly time there, where they dress up and listen to fun music. There are also many activities for children in the area such as a ring toss and photo booth. She said the race is the biggest event for the school because it raises money for their school since it is a non-profit.
“The race is raising money for the preschool and the money goes to paying things like the teacher salaries or if the school sites need improvements,” Van Bruggen said. “We’re thankful to have the money that we’ve raised from this to go towards funding the teachers, because they’re really amazing, all of them. And yeah, we’re really lucky to have such, a caring community.”
Van Bruggen said the race is a great community-building event. Even though people left the school, she always runs into someone. Bruggen said that she had not seen someone for 10 years and randomly saw him at a race with his child.
Van Bruggen said it is the perfect fundraiser because it goes directly back to the children. Van Bruggen and other parent volunteers play an active role at the school. Each day, a different parent is assigned to a role at the school. They can either lead an activity such as art or help with the beautification process of the school by removing weeds or helping indoors by assisting teachers.
“Everyone has a specific job for you each time it’s one’s work day,” Van Bruggen said. “then you do support if the teachers need help with things, but you usually have a very specific card that you like to wear around your neck with your job at each time. It’s clearly laid out. I’m really thankful that my daughter and all other children, can have so much interaction with the parents and the teachers, and it really focuses on play-based learning, the importance of play and getting the children to try new things.”
She said there will be refreshments and snacks available for runners. The race is accessible for people of all abilities. The 5K is $50 a person before the race.
For more information on the race and to learn about the nursery school, visit downbythebay5k.org/.
