With the sun overcast on the bus loop outside of Miami Lakes Educational Center, Christmas music ringing through many bright red ears, and the wind giving energy to over one hundred runners, the first ever MLEC Jingle Jog commenced.
Formerly the traditional Turkey Trot, the Jingle Jog is a one-mile run that the administration put together to call for school spirit. The administration, staff, and members of SHAPE worked hard to maintain the event and ensure that it was both a safe and fun run.
“I wanted to do a schoolwide event for a while,” said principal Ms. Diaz, “and I wanted to bring athletics and more to the school, because normally only P.E. students participated in sports. I wanted to bring a little more excitement to the campus. We wanted to do something like the Turkey Trot, but there was so much going on in November with Homecoming and Basketball Jam, that there was no time to be able to do it.”
Eighty students and twenty teachers were part of the final line-up, but many more had filled the form to participate. Students showed off their academy pride, exclaiming how their academy would win in numbers and in the race. Of the six academies, Health had the most participants, but the first runner to finish was a sophomore from IT.
When asked how he felt about being the first to finish, Randyl Dyer said, “It feels great!”
The track began and ended in the bus loop. The participants lined up by the starting line and when Ms. Castro, the activities director, counted down, the runners took off and followed after the pace car that assistant principal Mr. Windisch was driving.
Participants made their way to the entrance of the bus loop, then turned around and ran back through the exit. From there, a gate was opened that led the participants to the truck lot, where they continued running until they reached the finish. There were two water stations positioned on the track: one near the starting line and another at the halfway point – the latter being run by members of SHAPE.
Dressed in their black SHAPE shirts and Christmas hats, the students were placed around the track to lead the participants in the right direction and hand out cups of water.
“This is the first time they do this, and it seems fun. It’s a good way to start off the holiday break and bring in some school spirit,” a member of SHAPE that’d been assigned to directing participants shared.
Among the participants were SGA Vice President Jasmine Hernandez and Treasurer Sabrina Charris who, along with President Luis Armas and Secretary Selma Granizo, created the chalk phrases sprawled throughout the concrete track.
Encouraging words and phrases, such as, “You can do this!” or “Keep going!” were written in chalk on every inch of the loop. Some were comedic and quoted legendary memes, such as, “You are doing great, sweetie!” or “[Ms.] Estepe made me do it.”
“The class of 2020 officers and some students from Mr. Moffi’s fourth period worked on everything,” Jasmine said.
Students on their lunch breaks crowded the sidewalk beside the track, cheering for their teachers and friends who were making their way by and enjoying themselves on the festive Friday lunch.
The school’s cheerleading team, the Jaguettes, crowded around the line and cheered for the participants that finished. As the music played, the girls danced and shook their pom-poms, and some spectating teachers and students even joined in.
Though they appeared cheerful and full of spirit, the Jaguettes were distraught over the lack of school events to participate in, and the recent cancelling of a winter pep rally.
“It’s cool and all, but it’s still boring,” one of the senior Jaguettes said.
Some of the students also lost their spirit when they learned that there was no rumored prize. At the start of sign-ups, participants had believed there to be a prize for the academy that had the most participants and for the first student to finish. However, this was merely a rumor.
Despite this response, some students that didn’t participate were open to the idea of another race. Ms. Diaz herself even hinted at the idea of a “Spring Sprint”.
“I certainly hope there is one. There was a lot of interest for this one and a lot of students that didn’t participate whether they weren’t able to or they didn’t make the final line-up. For this one, we’re considering either a Spring Sprint or a Bunny Hop. We’ll have to see though, because the challenge is finding a date to do it and good weather,” she said.
While Randyl Dyer had been the first participant to cross the finish line, students and teachers took their time to finish. When participants finished, they were given a “jingle bell”, a bell tied to a red string to signify a medal.
The event brought plentiful academy and Christmas spirit to the campus, and there is the possibility of another race later in the year.
