Cornerstone Color Run Paints the Town Neon
EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. — Cornerstone Elementary families turned out in bright shirts and wide smiles Friday evening for the school’s fourth annual Color Run. This fun event combines exercise, laughter, and bursts of colorful powder.
The event, organized by the school’s Parent Teacher Organization, drew more than 300 registered participants, ranging from students to parents. About 20 to 30 volunteers, including teachers, staff, and parents, helped make the event possible, according to Cornerstone PTO President Cori Spohn.
“It’s just a family-friendly event where we can have families come together with an event outside just for a night of fun,” Spohn said.
Proceeds from the run support the PTO’s work throughout the school year, funding classroom needs and special activities. “It goes back to PTO, and then we put that back into different events or things that teachers need for the classroom,” Spohn said.
Families enjoyed more than just the race. Nonnie’s Shaved Ice served up cool treats, donating 10 percent of their proceeds back to the PTO. Volunteers also kept the crowd fed with hot dogs, chips, cookies, and bottled water.
Entertainment was woven throughout the evening, including a lighthearted race featuring teachers and staff dressed in ketchup, mustard, and relish costumes. Another game paired teachers with students, who laughed as they tried to toss mini beach balls into oversized hula hoop pants.
Of course, the highlight was the Color Run itself. Kids, parents, teachers, and staff, many dressed in white, were coated in neon chalk dust as they made their way along the course. Toward the end of the evening, Excelsior Springs’ new school resource officer, Andrew Stott, stepped into the action, allowing children to cover him head to toe in bright powder.
Color Runs have gained popularity across the country in the last decade; the events were first inspired by the Hindu festival of Holi. Runners and walkers make their way through a course where volunteers toss brightly colored powder into the air, leaving participants coated in a rainbow of hues.
Families interested in supporting future events can get involved by emailing ESCornerstonePTO@gmail.com. The PTO also holds monthly meetings on the first Thursday in the Cornerstone library, unless school is out or a holiday falls on that day.
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