Granby Elementary students cross-country ski their way to pajama day

At Polhamus Park in Granby, children playing cowbells and bongos in tiny cross-country skis slid around a course and stumbled through the snow. At the end of their gym class, the first-graders checked the counters that tracked their laps and compared numbers.

“Look, I did nine laps,” said one girl excitedly. “I did
more than my brother!”

A small pack of Granby Elementary first-graders spent Thursday’s PE class making laps around a cross-country course in the town park across the street from their school.

All classes participated in the Ski-A-Thon on Wednesday and Thursday working toward the school wide goal of 2,000 laps, something teacher Maggie Keller said the children were close to reaching with a few more hours to go.

The PE classes spent three weeks on a cross-country skiing unit in partnership with the Snow Mountain Ranch Nordic Center, which provided the tiny skis. This was the second year the school has had a cross-country ski unit and the first year it’s had a Ski-A-Thon.

The students spent the first week on “dryland” in the gym and then two weeks outside at Polhamus Park. Keller was especially grateful to the town, specifically Peter Butrimovich, for creating the course for students.

“He created this course and has been maintaining it,” Keller
said. “I think the best part of this is they’re going to continue maintaining
it throughout the season. The kids, families, anyone in Granby can use it.”

After the unit, their Nordic skills were put to the test in the Ski-A-Thon sponsored by the Granby Elementary parent organization, Very Involved Parents. Students raised donations per lap to go toward the parents’ efforts at the school.

If the students reach their goal of 2,000 between the two days, the students will get a pajama day.