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Guest column by Nick Sofio

If you happened to have been driving near or around Fountain Lake this past Friday you may have noticed large groups of students walking around the lake. Lakeview students participated in our annual Walk-a-Thon this past Friday. The Walk-a -Thon has been an annual event for our students for well over 10 years, and has served as our primary fundraiser for the school year.

Our greater school community plays an important role in ensuring that our event is a success year in and year out. Over the course of a two-week period our kindergarten through fifth-grade students reach out to members of the Albert Lea community to politely ask for donations to help support the many amazing activities that take place each year at Lakeview. Over the course of the past 10 years, the money raised through the Walk-a-Thon has helped our school in a number of significant ways. Through this fundraiser we have been able to add more  equipment to our playground, put in a walking track, add new swings, as well as new outdoor basketball hoops, just to name a few.  The students are always extremely excited to know that their hard work helped to make these items a reality at our school.

There are many stakeholders who have helped to make our Walk-a-Thon a success each year. We appreciate everyone in our community who has generously donated to the Walk-a-Thon, the parents from our PTO who have organized the event and the significant amount of  parents/guardians, teachers and staff who donated the gift of time to participate in some aspect of the Walk-a -Thon this year and in the past. We are incredibly grateful to our community for valuing and supporting our children through their educational journey within Albert Lea Area Schools.

Nick Sofio is principal of Lakeview Elementary School.