Run With the Son helps with tuition

St. Teresa of Avila Catholic School students will switch their blue denim parochial uniforms for shorts and T-shirts on Friday.

"We have a uniform, but on Friday, we can wear our Walk/Jog a-thon T-shirt and choice of shorts," said St. Teresa eighth-grader Beth Lewis.

Her dad, Mike Lewis, is planning the "Run With the Son" fund-raiser, in which students walk or run laps around the school's baseball field for an hour. The fund-raiser has supplemented the school's operating costs for the past 25 years.

"We usually raise about $12,000," Lewis said. "It's just a small portion to help keep tuition at a reasonable rate by reducing general operating costs."

Tuition at the school begins at $2,750 for a child whose family belongs to St. Teresa's church and tithes at least $400 to the church and $100 to Catholic Services Appeal each year.

The most expensive tuition is for non-Catholic students or Catholic families who do not meet tithing requirements, with tuition for one child at $3,900.

That is less expensive than the per-pupil funding Nevada spends on its children in public schools. The state paid $4,424 per child to each school district in 2004-05. St. Teresa's also charges a $200 registration fee.

More than 65 organizations donated money for the fund-raiser, and their names will be on the T-shirts. Donations could be made at the $35, $50 and $100 levels, with every agency's name going on the T-shirts.

"What people can still do now is donate at a flat rate or per lap to any of the children at the school," Lewis said. "They can mail it into the school, if they like, and say it's for the Walk/Jog a-thon."

Beth, 14, asked businesses like Lefty's Burgers and Such and The Garden Center to give. Her brother Jeff, 12, raised money from Studio 218 Hair Design, where he goes for haircuts, and Tony's Pool Service, which cleans the family's pool.

Jeff, a seventh-grader, is looking forward to the 10 or 11 laps he'll complete with his friends Friday. As a soccer player, he is pretty fit, he says, and ready for the challenge.

The event is open to the public, and vendors will sell food, including sno-cones, baked goods and specialty drinks. Lewis will grill hot dogs.

"It's always pretty fun," said Jeff. "There's always games that we play, there's sno-cones ... it's a half day."

"I guess we're looking forward to it 'cuz we get to skip a day of school," Beth said.

n Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.

If you go

What: St. Teresa of Avila School's 26th annual "Run With the Son" Walk/Jog a-thon to raise funds to offset school operating costs. Open to the public. Includes laps around the field by students, food for sale, a DJ and health education.

When: 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday

Where: 567 S. Richmond Ave.

Information: Call 882-2079