Kenya Day: A Tradition at Elmwood School
Michelle Murdock, Freelance Writer | March 2014
Monday, April 21st is Patriots’ Day and Marathon Monday, the day of the 118th Boston Marathon, but here in Hopkinton while that day is certainly important, the students at Elmwood Elementary School are also looking forward to another day; the Thursday before Marathon Monday, the day that the Kenyan elite runners will visit their school for the 22nd year in a row; a day known to students at Elmwood as Kenya Day.
First started in April of 1993, Kenya Day at Elmwood is now a tradition that has been experienced by thousands of Hopkinton students, and represents yet another component of Hopkinton’s Marathon Footprint.
Created and sponsored by John Hancock, the goal was to create a program tied to Hancock’s sponsorship of the Boston Marathon that would also support educational programs involving school children. In the beginning the program was designed and run by Fred Treseler of TRACS, a global sports marketing and event management firm. Drawing upon his experience gained from 10 years of teaching high school, combined with his coaching experience at the collegiate and Olympic level, Treseler was able to create exactly what Hancock was looking for; a program that brings the John Hancock elite Kenyan runners together with Hopkinton elementary students for a pre-race pep rally and also provides the students with an opportunity to learn firsthand about Kenya's culture and about the lifestyles of the country's talented marathon runners.
In the beginning, the idea was to have each town along the marathon route host athletes from each country represented by John Hancock’s team of elite athletes, in effect “adopting” a specific country or marathoner. Hopkinton was selected as the pilot and the concept was pitched to then Superintendent of Schools William Hosmer with the help of Tim Kilduff of the 26.2 Foundation, known then as the Hopkinton Athletic Association. Hosmer was excited and suggested putting the program at Elmwood and John Hancock’s Adopt-a-Marathoner program was born.
When designing the program, Treseler used his familiarity of Kenyan culture gleaned from several visits to Kenya to create an atmosphere that would be welcoming to the runners. In Kenya, foreign visitors are often welcomed by song, leading to the welcome song sung by students on Kenya Day in Hopkinton. To add a more American feel, bright lights and fog were added next to create the feel of a big sporting event. And to anyone who has ever attended Kenya Day, the result is an experience that is hard to forget.
“There was nothing I enjoyed more than that day in Hopkinton,” said Treseler. “The program to me is all about what sports and education should be. Of all of the programs that I have worked on, this is the one of which I am the most proud.”
Due to the amount of work involved, while planned to be the pilot site, Hopkinton ended up being the only town to host the elite runners before the race and Treseler says although he was not initially expecting it, a tradition was created.
For retired Elmwood Principal Ilene Silver, who attended the majority of Kenya Days, the day is something for the children to look forward to, a culminating event that caps off the educational part of the program that takes place throughout the year leading up to the athletes’ visit. Students learn about the traditions and culture of Kenya, do math problems related to the heights of the runners, find Kenya on the map, and learn basic Swahili words like “jambo”.
“It was absolutely one of my favorite things at Elmwood,” said Silver. “I looked forward to it every year and I love that it brought the community together.”
And for the students in 3rd grade teacher Tom Keane’s class, Kenya Day adds even more due to Keane’s personal connection to Kenya.
“The first year the Kenyans came to visit my classroom was my second year teaching,” said Keane. “A teacher across the hall, Carol Costa, had recommended that the Kenyan team come and see my room because it was decorated with many items from Kenya. After that year, the visit to Room 28 became a part of the tradition.”
The items in Keane’s classroom came from his Aunt Susie, Sister Ellen Keane who was a missionary who helped build and teach at the Bishop Sulamenti School for girls in Kakamega, Kenya. During his school years, Keane says he wrote many letters to his aunt in Kenya.
“For fifteen years, we would write back and forth and she would tell me all about her adventures in Kenya,” said Keane. “She was there when the very first Kenyan broke through and won in Boston, and through words was able to convey just how important that first Kenyan victory was to the people of Kenya. She now works and lives in Boston and for the past two years I was able to convince her to come to Kenya Day. The joy that she experiences on that day brings me happiness. She loves meeting the marathoners and speaking to them in Swahili. She also teaches my third graders all about Kenya.”
And while the tradition continues, it does so now under a new name. With Silver’s retirement, the program was renamed by John Hancock to Scholars and Stars: Hopkinton as there is now a sister program called Scholars and Stars: Boston that brings together Boston area high school track athletes and Boston Marathon elite marathoners. But while the name has changed, the core program and its intent remains the same.
“It’s a gift to Hopkinton,” said Louise I. Santosuosso, Assistant Vice President of Sponsorship Marketing at John Hancock. “Hopkinton is the start and is a huge part of the Boston Marathon. It’s one of our favorite programs and it’s a joy to see how excited they [the students] get.
Also changed is the management of the program which is now handled in-house by John Hancock employees. Santosuosso explained that just like Hopkinton, the Boston Marathon is a huge part of the culture at John Hancock and employee engagement with marathon sponsored events is big and includes over 300 employees. There is even an MVP volunteer program in place and several MVP employees will attend the Scholars and Star program this April which will bring fifteen elite Kenyan runners to Elmwood.
A few additions are also planned by Elmwood’s current principal David Ljungberg who has participated in four Kenya Days, his second as principal.
“We are super excited to have it this year, “said Ljungberg. “There will be more kids involved and we are instituting a welcome parade where the Kenyan athletes will walk through the entire building and be greeted by students. We have also selected one boy and one girl from each class to join the students in Tom Keane’s classroom.”
As a lead up to Elmwood School’s 2014 Kenya Day, Keane is also organizing a multi-class fundraiser for the Kenyan Kids Foundation, a charity established by 2012 Boston Marathon winner Wesley Korir and his wife Tarah. The Korirs founded the Kenyan Kids Foundation to provide scholarships for high school students in Wesley’s native Cherangany District.
“In the twenty-six days before Kenya Day, each participating class will have the goal of raising $26.20, one dollar for every mile of the Boston Marathon,” said Keane. “On Elmwood’s Kenya Day, all of the money raised will collectively be donated to the Kenyan Kids Foundation. Participating classes hope to work together to raise the $350 it costs to sponsor a Kenyan high school student for a year or even the $500 it costs to hire a nursery school teacher for a year.”
And so the tradition of Elmwood School’s Kenya Day continues. And it’s a tradition and connection that Keane says should not be taken for granted.
“Anyone who has been to Kenya Day at Elmwood and has seen how generous and kindhearted the Kenyans are and how receptive and in awe of them the second and third graders are, can truly appreciate how special Kenyan Day is for everyone involved,” said Keane. “Over the years, Elmwood School has been fortunate to host some of the greatest runners the world has ever seen – Moses Tanui, Catherine Ndereba, Robert Cheruyiot and Wesley Korir, to name just a few. We are truly fortunate and I hope that Kenya Day will be a tradition that continues for years to come.”
