A10
FRIDAY
December 3, 2021
Fall Sports
SeasideSignal.com
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District photos
Turkey Trot participants ready at the start.
Park district Turkey Trot
draws a crowd to Quatat Park
Seaside Signal
Katherine Lacaze
From left, Pacifi c Ridge Elementary School students Josh Wright, Wesley Madman, Fischer
Stevenson and Liam Goodwin run the track at the Seaside school campus during the annual
Turkey Trot.
Turkey Trot: ‘Benefi cial to the students
both academically and physically’
The Turkey Trot, held Thanksgiving morning, brought more than 200
participants to Quatat Park for the 5K run.
Prizes went to Elliott Allen, fastest male, 17:17; Kasha Tippet, fastest
female, at 27:00; James Roehr, fastest youth, at 17:34; and Steve Brown,
winner of best costume as Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Continued from Page A1
“That way it’s fun and rewarding for
everyone,” Fisher added.
Introducing JAWS
The Turkey Trot has also become an
extension of the school’s recently estab-
lished Jogging and Walking Students pro-
gram, run by Fisher and fellow PE teacher
Brynn Ripley.
Fisher, who started at Pacifi c Ridge this
school year, brought the program with her
from school districts in southern Nevada
and Eugene where she has previously
worked and seen it have great success. She
got a grant through Amped Up for a phone
application that keeps track of the partici-
pants and logs their individual cumulative
miles throughout the year through the use
of the application.
The teachers developed a track by
the elementary school. Between 7:45
and 8 a.m. each morning, after students
are dropped off by the bus and between
classes starting, they can walk or jog at the
track for 15 minutes as music plays in the
background.
Every time a student fi nishes a lap, they
can scan their QR code and the system will
tell them how far they’ve run. At 5-mile
increments (and then 15 miles, 25 miles
and so on), the teachers print off the stu-
dent’s code in a diff erent color to indicate
them “leveling up,” Fisher said. At 10-mile
increments, the children receive charms in
the shape of feet to pin on their lanyards.
They can collect the charms and level up
throughout the school year, and Fisher is
planning out a prize for the top perform-
ers — or all the students who reach a cer-
tain mile goal.
At the end of the week, the system also
calculates the results and shares data on
which classroom has collected the most
miles. This adds a lighthearted compet-
itive aspect to the program, with class-
rooms trying to catch up to or outpace
others.
Self-motivation
Students racked up about 1,000 miles
after only participating the program a
week and a half. That’s also before the
Turkey Trot miles were added, which
Fisher expects “will really up our miles”
as a school.
A handful of children have already
clocked in 10 miles — or 50 laps — and
received their fi rst feet charm.
Currently, JAWS is only open to third
through fi fth graders because of social-dis-
tancing regulations and a desire to keep
kids properly spaced out, but Fisher would
like to expand it in the future.
“We’d like to get it to where everyone
LEFT: Elliott Allen, fastest runner overall. RIGHT: Kasha Tippet, fastest female
at the Turkey Trot 5K.
Katherine Lacaze
Kids having fun at the Pacifi c Ridge Turkey Trot.
can participate,” she said, adding at other
school districts, they’ve even invited the
students’ family members to walk or jog
with them during that 15-minute period.
Fisher estimates they have QR codes
for about 300 students, and 100 or so will
come out to run on a given day. Some
days, they might jog or walk a full mile.
Other days, it might be only a few laps.
Sometimes, they’ll opt to stay inside and
read. The goal is to provide children with
the opportunity and let them choose when
to participate.
“It’s wonderful to see kids be self-moti-
vated,” Fisher said.
She knows running or walking a mile
in the morning provides both physical and
mental benefi ts for students, both through-
out the day and over the long term.
“Post-COVID, we have a lot of health
backlash,” Fisher said, adding many kids
participated in “less movement” during the
lockdown and distance learning period.
She also wants “kids to love running,”
and to see that, “when you do it regularly,
it’s a good thing.”
“It’s really important to try to make
it fun and a positive, rewarding thing,”
she added. “The idea is to just enjoy
movement.”
Additionally, data supports that when
kids move before school, it tends to help
them in the classroom. They are better able
to absorb information.
At the schools where she’s imple-
mented the program, their academic per-
formance has seen improvement. While
Fisher reckons that’s not solely because
of physical education and the extra fi tness
opportunity, those certainly have “some-
thing to do with it.”
“It’s benefi cial to the students both aca-
demically and physically,” she said.
LEFT: Steve Brown won the award for best costume at the Turkey Trot. RIGHT:
James Roehr, the fastest youth runner in the Turkey Trot.
Runners at the start.
Local state parks land funding for improvements
Money for Fort Stevens,
Nehalem Bay
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
State parks on the North Coast are getting
an upgrade.
The Oregon State Parks and Recreation
Commission has approved an initial list of
capital improvement projects that could fun-
nel as much as $19 million to projects at Fort
Stevens State Park and Nehalem Bay State
Park.
The money comes after the state Legisla-
ture this year approved $50 million in gen-
eral obligation bonds to fund state park facil-
ity improvements.
Funds will not be released until next year
and some plans could be subject to change or
adjustment, cautioned Justin Parker, the parks
department’s North Coast district manager.
But the money could arrive at an important
time as visitation to the coast continues to soar
and the tourist season is no longer confi ned to
just the summer months.
“In a lot of cases, there are parts of the
parks that are overdue for maintenance,”
Parker said, adding, “We’re trying to prepare
the parks for the next 100 years.”
Park managers at Fort Stevens could
expect to see up to $3 million to rehabilitate a
rare historic military guardhouse and as much
as $8 million to address aging utilities.
Staff plan to relocate a restroom and
shower facility at the Peter Iredale shipwreck
day-use area that dates from the 1950s. The
restroom, which sits on top of a dune, is near
the end of its useable life, diffi cult to maintain
and actively sinking into the sand, Parker said.
A new restroom will be built farther east and
off of the dune.
The park also plans to upgrade four camp-
ground loops with improvements to electrical,
water and wastewater utilities.
Money could fl ow to Nehalem Bay State
Park beginning in 2023, though that funding
is not certain.
Park managers hope to make parkwide
upgrades and potentially add a new cabin loop
and tent sites, among other improvements.
More pressing from an operational side is a
proposal to add housing for seasonal staff .
This year was one of the most challenging
when it came to recruiting and retaining sea-
sonal staff , Parker said.
Across the North Coast district, which
includes Fort Stevens, Nehalem Bay and Cape
Lookout, the parks were able to hire only
around 30% to 40% of the necessary seasonal
staff on average.
People wanted the jobs but struggled to
fi nd housing, a familiar woe echoed across
multiple industries and by numerous employ-
ers on the coast.
The state has focused on recruiting locally,
trying to attract people who are already estab-
lished in the area. In some cases, parks have
been able to off er people a longer season to
work.
“We’ve realized we’re not immune to the
housing shortages and the challenges all the
other employers in the area are encountering,”
Parker said.