More than 300 students, teachers, and parents from Portola Elementary trekked up Sweeney Ridge Thursday morning to highlight the importance of physical fitness and to raise money for the school.
As a school-wide tradition started 28 years ago by retired teacher Mike Casey, each year the school hikes up the ridge to the place where the school’s namesake, Gaspar de Portola, discovered San Francisco Bay in 1769. In 2010, the school renamed the Sweeney Ridge Hike in honor of Casey, who continues to tutor students at Portola two days a week.
The hike is the culmination of Portola’s main fundraiser, known as the Hike-a-Thon. During the month of October, students collected donations to support the school’s PTA.
This year, the Hike-a-Thon is expected to raise more than $55,000, which will be used to help fund the school's P.E. and music programs, instructional aides, technology, classroom reading materials, afterschool tutoring, field trips, assemblies, and library materials.
—Leslie Hatamiya, Portola Elementary
