By J1 Reporter Lucy Kalkowski

During her time at Marian, current theology teacher Ms. Sara Greisch was required to run her Walk-A-Thon route as a fall sport athlete. One of Marian’s long lasting traditions, Walk-A-Thon is one of its largest.

Walk-A-Thon is a month-long fundraiser run by students to raise money for tuition assistance. Students organize bake sales, car washes, and restaurant nights in order to reach their class goal, and the overall school goal. Over the years, students have focused on the competition aspect or the prizes of raising money, such as the day off of school or the shorter route. “I was really focused on getting that day off. That’s what I wanted…It sounds so silly and selfish, but that’s all I focused on,” Greisch said. 

Competition between classes to raise the most money is the main thing students focus on during Walk-A-Thon. But as a teacher, Greisch sees Walk-A-Thon in a new light. “I view it very differently now, like I said, I was really focused on trying to get that cash brought in so I could get the day off. As a teacher now, I completely see the importance of it. We need to have an opportunity for girls to receive an education they want and this provides that opportunity,” Gresich said. 

She describes her change of perspective as a “180 flip” from when she was a student. She wants others to share this new viewpoint, to see Walk-A-Thon not as a competition, but as a way to make things equitable. 

“I know for me as a student that I didn’t think like that. I didn’t think about that mindset because I was 15, 16, a young kid. Now I think it’s way more important that we focus on the fact that we can create those opportunities for girls now,” Greisch said. 

At the end of this year’s event, Marian students were not shown their class totals to promote unity and to remind students what Walk-A-Thon is meant for. Not for first place, but for every girl to have the opportunity to come to Marian no matter what financial background. This year, students raised more than $150,000 to continue to support their classmates in need of tuition assistance.