|
|||||||||
 News
| 
MFS News June 30, 2008 RISING THIRD GRADER MAKES A DIFFERENCE...AND HELPS SET GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
Posted July 3, 2008 - See national/international media coverage below. Make a difference. A simple request, but one not heeded by many people, let alone an eight-year-old child. Rising Moorestown Friends School third grader Peter Wajda of Mount Laurel helped establish a world record yesterday. He and his family traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in a ceremony to mark the establishment of a Guinness World Record for longest chain of shoes (10,512 shoes spanning 1.65 miles) by National Geographic Kids magazine. The feat was confirmed by Stuart Claxton of Guinness World Records. Peter and his classmates collected 509 shoes as part of a drive at Moorestown Friends this year. The local drive came about after Peter heard inspiring words from Lower School Director Kelly Goula at the beginning of the 2007-08 school year. “On the first day of school, at Meeting for Worship, (Lower School Director) Mrs. Goula talked about making a difference,” said Wajda. Peter took the Lower School Director’s message to heart that day and quickly found a cause he could adopt when he opened his National Geographic for Kids magazine. The magazine was partnering with the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program to attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the longest chain of shoes. The Reuse-A-Shoe program uses old athletic shoe material to create basketball and tennis courts, soccer fields, and running tracks in poor and impoverished areas. It takes between 2,000 and 2,500 athletic shoes to recycle enough material to build a basketball court surface. After learning about this program, Peter visited Mrs. Goula and they began to set the course for what would become an effort by the entire Lower School to collect shoes. Collection boxes were placed in the Lower School and Peter provided periodic updates at Meetings for Worship throughout the fall. Momentum quickly grew and soon the Wajda family was specializing in the art of deodorizing old gym shoes. By the time the January deadline for submissions had arrived, 509 sneakers had been collected, including donations from Peter’s pediatrician who set out collection boxes for patients to drop off shoes. Peter was a student this past year in Marge Dawson’s second grade class. According to Mrs. Dawson, many of Peter’s classmates helped with different aspects of the drive, from collecting the sneakers to helping chart the progress of the drive for display in the Lower School. “The class was very supportive of Peter’s efforts,” she said. “At the conclusion of the drive, the class placed all the shoes collected in a line in the Lower School hallways to get a better handle on how long of a chain had been created by the sneaker drive.” Peter and his family drove to National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. in January topersonally deliver the old sneakers. Upon arrival, Senior Editor/Special Projects Editor Rachel Buchholz provided the family with a behind-the-scenes tour of the headquarters. “Peter was one of two kids that we know of that did a drive on his own,” said Buchholz. “The other was a 13-year old boy in Rhode Island. It shows a lot of initiative and consciousness about the environment.” The magazine was overwhelmed by the response to its call for gym shoes. “The recycle theme combined with the Guinness Record really struck a chord,” said Buchholz. “The response from kids like Peter was phenomenal. This has just been incredible.” In looking back on what he, his classmates, and family had accomplished, Peter was left with a warm feeling in his heart. “Those shoes could be a in a landfill somewhere,” he said. “When you make a difference, it makes you feel good inside.” National/International Media Coverage: Official announcement from National Geographic BBC - Photo #4 is a picture of Peter atop the sneaker chain WTOP - Washington D.C.
###
|
||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
110 E. Main Street Moorestown, NJ 08057-2949 Phone: (856) 235-2900 |
|