Fundraising for the new monkey bars and gaga ball pit started on May 6. Over the course of two weeks, the 19 classes raised $29,085.

During Fun Run Day, two classes at a time would run laps around two tracks that were set up using plastic marker discs. The students raised money in one of two different ways. One option was to have a certain amount of money donated per lap. The second option was to just have a flat amount donated no matter how many laps. The ability to fundraise had a cap of 35 laps. Laps run after 35 were simply for bragging rights.

After the final two grades finished their runs, students and staff members joined them outside, where teachers were to be pied and the principal slimed.

The students from each class who raised the most money were the ones who had the honor of slapping a paper plate full of shaving cream into their teachers’ faces.

Ciara Parizek/MDN Thomas Hjelmstad “pies” physical education teacher Sara Smith with a plate of shaving cream during s fundraiser celebration at Longfellow Elementary School on Friday.

Principal Jenn Arlien was slimed by Becky Thomas, a Longfellow Title I teacher and organizer of Fun Run Day, in recognition of the students exceeding their initial fundraising goal of $27,000.

“We’ve never raised that much money before,” Arlien said.

Arlien had no idea how the sliming would be conducted prior to the event happening. As it turned out, she had a bucket of slime dumped on her.

The Longfellow playground does not yet have a set of monkey bars and is also without a gaga ball pit. Longfellow secretary Kim Sutton said another school in Minot has two pits, but they are going to start with one and see how it goes.

The donation system was all online, as well. Information was sent to the parents, and students set up their own accounts to accept donations from friends and family, near and far.

Ciara Parizek/MDN Piper Hern takes off running during the Fun Run Day at Longfellow Elementary School on Friday.

Sutton mentioned some students have family members who cannot always help with local donations because they live out of town, so this fundraiser was a better opportunity to raise more money.

Last year, their Fun Run Day raised quite a bit of money toward their new swingset.

“It was a fantastic day for it,” Sutton said.