Students and teachers from St. Lucie Public Schools (SLPS) along with private pre-kindergarten partners rallied in the month of January to collect dimes in support of March of Dimes March for Babies. On Wednesday, students and teachers convened at Lawnwood Stadium to run the track in segments. Collectively, the segments represented the distance of the total number of dimes collected if they were to be placed side-by-side. 58,880 dimes were collected! In distance, that equates to approximately 2.5 miles; in dollars, that equates to $5,880.00.
As children populated the track, they were greeted by Curious George and each participating school received a copy of Curious George to add to their classroom library. The books were donated by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, SLPS’s partner in education.
The March of Dimes organization was founded by President Roosevelt to defeat the crippling disease of polio. In 1979, polio was eradicated from the United States. The polio vaccine was only the beginning. The March of Dimes has helped stamp out rubella, pushed for regionalized newborn intensive care, and much more. They are currently working hard to find treatments and preventions for birth defects and premature births.
Pictured are, Superintendent Genelle Z. Yost and event coordinator, Dr. Mary Huffstetter.