Student Leaders set up 5K series

Last month, The Student Leaders group at Center Moriches High School hosted the first of three in the annual 5K “Using our Voices Mental Health Run Series.”

The first race, this year, was held on Saturday, March 16 from 9 to 11 a.m. starting at Neville Park, 9 Canal Street, in Center Moriches. The kids’ run (ages 5-10) started earlier at 8:45 until 9 a.m.

The event is held in partnership with the North Babylon and Connetquot school districts. The second and third in the race series will be held in those areas on May 11 and 19.

The race serves as a follow-up event to P.S. I Love You Day. P.S. I Love You Day is held the second Friday of February as a day meant to spread love, decrease bullying, and promote mental health awareness.

Center Moriches School District, according to the district, believes in students being a part of the change process and genuine inclusivity through student engagement. The goal is to share important messages about reducing stress and anxiety, building relationships, and supporting students’ mental and physical health through movement.

Junior race directors include Center Moriches High School students Isabella Rayburn, Destiny Blackwood, Chloe Raupp, Angelina Buttigieg, and Gabby DeAngelis.

They were in charge of leading the event in hopes of bringing people together for fun, music, running, walking, and raffles.

High school senior and one of the junior race directors, Rayburn explained that their main goal of the series is to spread awareness about mental health and how exercise can improve mental health.

“Our student leader group continues to do great work, and I am beyond proud to be a part of it and to have been a junior race director,” she said. “It was so rewarding that the amount of time we put into this run series paid off.”

The support, she said, was overwhelming, surpassing their goal of 300 registrants. The first of the series had a total of 330 registrants. The race also included several vendors and mental health resources.

The race directors were also charged with finding the vendors as well as the mental health resources, and visiting every class in the high school, middle school, and elementary school, putting countless hours into the series.

“On behalf of myself and principal Marissa Mangogna, we are incredibly proud of our junior race directors and student leaders for their leadership skills, their hard work, and for the amazing things they do every day,” said Katy Forman, the head organizer and the assistant principal of Center Moriches High School. “We were so impressed by all of our staff involvement, all of our students, and our families. Amazing!”