Put on your tennis shoes and head to the starting line, because Frederick High School is hosting the first annual Frederick Feeder 5K/Fun Run on Saturday, April 16, 2022. This inaugural event is being organized by the Student Council with hopes to reach students, staff, and community members across the schools in the Frederick Feeder within St. Vrain Valley Schools. Two different races will be occurring on April 16th, one being a 400-meter Fun Run that has a planned start time of 10:00 am, as well as a 5K that is planned to start at 9:00 am. Both races will start and end at Frederick High School.

The Frederick Feeder 5K will raise funding for the 2022 staff scholarship, which is typically presented at graduation, as well as to help the Student Council host more events. In addition, a major goal of this event is to connect with members of the Tri-Town Community and the Frederick Feeder system, which includes Spark! Discovery Preschool, Prairie Ridge Elementary, Legacy Elementary, Centennial Elementary, Thunder Valley K-8, Coal Ridge Middle School, and Frederick High. A feeder system is when students at an elementary school are automatically enrolled into one of the “feeder” middle schools, (depending on what “home school” area that student lives in) and when students move to high school, are automatically enrolled into the “feeder” high school.

“The Frederick Feeder 5K is an event we’re trying to do this year [that] will support the staff scholarship and Student Council at Frederick High School,” shared Mrs. Maddie Kirschner, a counselor at Frederick High School. “We really wanted an event that tied in the greater Frederick community, so Quinn McNeill (a senior at Frederick High) has presented it at all of the Feeder Meetings to all the Feeder Principals, to the middle schools and elementary schools of students that will eventually come to Frederick, and it is a community event to fundraise.”

Regardless of if you are part of the Frederick Feeder System or not, you are encouraged to participate in this fun event. However, staff members and students within the Frederick Feeder system will receive a $10 discount on the registration fee. For those in the Frederick Feeder, the cost per person is $25, and $35 for those who do not work in/attend a school in the Frederick Feeder System.

“Literally absolutely anyone [can participate in the race], there are discounted race fees for Frederick Feeder Staff, so the staff of schools in our feeder, and students, but we would love for community members and other people to participate as well. There is also a [400m fun run] that is just around the track for some of the younger kids, such as the preschoolers and kindergarteners, in the District as well,” Mrs. Kirschner tells us.

The Fun Run will take place on the track, whereas the 5K will take place in the fields surrounding Frederick High. The Town of Frederick has been a huge asset in ensuring that the course is ready to go by race day, which will be on April 16th.

“We are going to utilize the track, and then we are actually going to use the fields behind the high school as the route, and the Town of Frederick has been really great about helping us maintain those roads and with getting the route all figured out,” Mrs. Kirschner shared.

One fantastic way to be involved in the Frederick Feeder 5K is to volunteer. Students involved in extracurricular clubs and organizations at Frederick High, such as the National Honor Society, will be helping on race day, but anyone interested is encouraged to volunteer to help ensure everything runs smoothly.

According to Kirschner, “Quinn McNeill is organizing volunteers, the National Honor Society has been really great about stepping up to volunteer for the event, but [definitely] more the merrier. [If you are interested in volunteering,] you can contact Quinn McNeill [at [email protected]].”

With many Spring Sports currently in season, many coaches are encouraging the student-athletes on their teams and in their classes to participate in the Frederick Feeder 5K, including the track team. These coaches are encouraging as many students as possible to participate since the event will be a fun way to connect with members of the community, as well as other people within the Frederick Feeder. Some coaches have even helped brainstorm ways to increase participation and outreach for the event as well.

In an interview with Ms. Ptaschek, one of the Track coaches and a math teacher at Frederick High, she shared that “I’ve told a lot of my own students to participate in it, just because I feel that it would be something fun to do, but I’ve also encouraged the people running this to put [flyers and other forms of advertisement] in community centers, such as rec centers so that other people in the community [will participate as well].”

In addition to raising money for Student Council and the Staff Scholarship, the event will also help to bring together many different stakeholders within the Frederick community and beyond.

“It is fun for people to get outside and be a part of their community and see people around them that are in the same feeder, it is kind of exciting,” shared Ms. Ptaschek. “You can kind of see like, if there are teachers there, the younger kids can see what they have to look forward to and older kids can look forward to possibly seeing former teachers or younger [students] that they haven’t seen in a while,” she added.

We at the Frederick Scout encourage you to participate in the Frederick Feeder 5k/Fun Run, whether through running or walking in one of the races or by volunteering. The deadline for early registration is Friday, April 1, 2022, and you can find registration at this link.