LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Rheem School wins the 27th annual Moraga Rotary Field Day


Camino Pablo third-grade boys winning relay team, from left: Brian Harrison, Jeffrey Shen, and Max Alson, who ran two legs of the relay. Photos provided

Rheem School's athletes won the 27th Annual Moraga Rotary Field Day held Wednesday, May 9 at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School, breaking the three-year Field Day string of victories by Camino Pablo School. Rheem athletes' medal point count was 97, followed by Camino Pablo with 91 points, Los Perales with 76, and Saklan with 6. Los Perales fielded the most athletes, with 116 of the total 345 students participating. The three large elementary schools each had participation greater than 50 percent of their eligible students.

The athletes winning the most individual points were from Los Perales and Rheem. The High Point Boy was Ryan Erickson, a third-grader in Mrs. Thompson's class at Los Perales, who won three gold medals for 15 points. The High Point Girl was Amarise Gonzalez, a fifth-grader in Mrs. Greer's class at Rheem, who won two golds and one bronze medal, for 11 points. The teacher whose students accumulated the most medal points, 26, was Mrs. Thompson from Los Perales. These students, their parents, and teachers will be guests at a meeting of Moraga Rotary where they and Rheem School will receive engraved plaques to recognize their accomplishments.

For 27 years now, Moraga Rotary has been conducting this mini-track and field meet for third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders in Moraga Schools. The children and most teachers really look forward to this event; it is fun but competitive. Gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded to the top three contestants in each event, and other contestants received a participant ribbon. There is no charge for athletes to participate.

For the fifth year, the Field Day had the assistance of many of the men and women from the Saint Mary's College basketball teams, and the relay races were conducted by coach Randy Bennett. The Gael athletes conducted the basketball throw event, and also helped officiate and judge the sprints, relays, sack races, and the recently-introduced steeplechase. Boy Scouts from Troop 246, sponsored by Moraga Rotary, helped with some of the field events.

The Field Day chairman, Rotarian Tony Schoemehl, praised the school teachers, principals, and parents for encouraging the children to participate, and thanked Bennett and the Gaels men's and women's basketball teams for their help. Thanks also to parents who helped direct the children around to the various events, and to parents who helped with the field events.

Rotary Club of Moraga also supports elementary education in Moraga by providing grade-appropriate news magazines selected by teachers such as Time and National Geographic for curriculum enrichment, and by donations to the Moraga Education Foundation. Regular meetings are held on most Tuesdays at Moraga Country Club. For information, call Frank May at (925) 376-8195, or check out moragarotary.org.