Assumption Magazine Winter 2009 - Assumption High School

By Emily Hayden ‘09year when we do this. They take pridein it. That says a lot for the future of theprogram and for our ability to helpDare to Care.What other activities does the FamilyProgram have planned for the rest of theschool year?In January we will be teaming up withthe Advancement Office to lead thecharge for Capital Prize ticket saleswith a variety of incentives. We havea couple of surprise events planned aswell, and individual familieswill be doing a variety of activities.So we are excited to seewhat unfolds.Alyssa Baer ‘09works on the faceof Elmo for theFamily Cork.What I like best aboutthe Family Programis that itis rooted inAssumption’sSisters of Mercyhistory.Photo by Ian HuskEvery year, Assumption High School’sTeam Assumption hosts the Point A 5KRace, a 3.1 mile run that takes participantsthrough the neighborhood surroundingAHS. The Point A 5K originated fouryears ago. It was started with a goal toraise money for one specific charity,Nativity Academy at St. Boniface. But TeamAssumption wanted more than to host arace for charity; the club also wanted tobuild community spirit at Assumption andin the neighborhood around the school.It is a festive race that gets its participantsready for the upcoming holiday by offeringChristmas bells to tie onto runner’s shoesand ornament age-group prizes. There’seven hot chocolate and cookies for snackingbefore the race! Katie Caswell, Englishteacher at AHS who organizes the race,described it by saying, “It is a party. Weeven hold a holiday decoration contest forthe homes along the race route.”Team Assumption is one of the largestclubs at AHS, usually having between130-150 members. It is open to all agegroups, so any student, faculty, or staffmember can join. Created in 1998 byMartha Pfaadt Tedesco ’90 and JodySchaefer, it is a running-walking and fitnessclub. Katie Caswell and math teacherTracy Homan moderate the group. The girlsin this club all share a common interest inachieving healthy goals through running orwalking. The Point A 5k can be labeled asone of the best accomplishments of TeamAssumption, but not everything always goesas planned when it comes to hosting andorganizing such a large event.In early September 2008, TeamAssumption was informed that the city hadincreased its fees for walks and runs. Inorder to hold the race, $1,000 in feeswould have had to be paid. Members of theclub discussed hosting the race at anotherl to r: Katie Caswell – AHS English teacherand coordinator of the race, Elaine Salvo –AHS president, Sheriff John Aubrey, DebbyFisher – Sheriff Aubrey’s administrativeassistant and AHS past parent, Amber FischerHufft ‘93 – Debby’s daughter and AHS alum,Tracy Homan – AHS math teacher andcoordinator of the race.location, but finally decided to cancel therace altogether. The group couldn’t afford topay the fee and didn’t want to have the raceanywhere but in the neighborhood aroundAssumption. Leaders of the group had tomake the difficult call to Nativity Academyand tell them the race was off.But Caswell wasn’t willing to backdown. She decided to email the mayorabout the fees, and she copied the emailand sent it to the owners of Fleet Feet. Theowner of Fleet Feet then sent Caswell’semail to The Courier-Journal. Soon after,Caswell got a call from a reporter whowanted to do a story on the city’s increasedfees, and a week and a half later, the storywas published on the front page ofThe Courier-Journal. By 8 a.m. that samemorning, Team Assumption received acall offering a big donation from an anonymousdonor. Later on, they receivedanother call with another big donationfrom Coit Cleaning and Restoration.Astonishingly, with only a month to plan it,the Point A 5k was back on the calendar.Team Assumption next discovered thatthe fee would not be $1,000, but it wouldactually be even higher. They had tofind an alternative to using the LouisvilleMetro Police for traffic control. Generously,Sheriff John Aubrey’s office offered toprovide traffic control for the race. Becauseof the sheriff’s office, we were able tomake a donation to Nativity Academy. OnDecember 19, Katie Caswell, and co-coordinatorof the race, Tracy Homan, delivered acheck to Nativity Academy for $2,015.Even with these struggles, TeamAssumption put together another outstandingrace for the benefit of NativityAcademy – with special thanks to thegenerosity and support of the donors andthe sheriff’s office.19