TEACHFORAMERICA

Here is the video!

Thank You for Your Support!

I want to thank everyone for their overwhelming support in this endevor. You have made this an amazing experience that has surpassed all of my expectations.  I am still currently working on putting the video diary together and plan on having it finished by Monday, August, 15th.  I will also be updating the website with pictures and student reactions to the video.  Again, thank you so much for your support.  Your actions and words will truely help my students throught the challenge ahead.

A little about the experience:

First, let me apologize for the delay in updating the page.  I needed to recover and let the experience settle in these last couple of days.  Second,  I want to give a very special thanks to my support crew (My wife; Kim Demetrio, Alan's wife: Kate Hines, and our good friend; Lee Hudson) and running partner (Alan Burnie). Without the the work of the support crew this would not have been possible.  They made such a sacrifce staying up for the full 31 hours to make sure that we had everything that we needed.  And thanks to Alan Burnie, one of the the toughest guys I know.  I am 100% positive that if it had not have been for the ankle injury we would have finished together.  Thank you so much for supporting my kids and helping me reach our goal.  And lastly, I want to thank the Greater Nashville Staff and Corps Members.  Your constant support and faith in this project was inspiring.  You guys kept me going out there and I would not have been able to do this with out you.  Thank you so much.  Without further ado I give you the exprience...

It was tough.  Really tough.  Easily the hardest thing I have done in my life.  When we got lost in the first 20 minutes of the challenge we got really worried and a little panicked. It was not the greatest way to start off the challenge and it caused us to try to make up the time. In hindsight that wasn't the best of decisions.  We really worked harder than we should have that first 18 miles and we really started to feel it at around 40 miles.  That is when we hit our first wall.  We looked terrible.  The support crew was really concerned and considered calling it off there.  But we asked them to reevaluate us at the next check point and good thing we did because the next 20 felt great.

That was pretty much how most of the run went.  One portion we would feel just awful, and then the next we would break through the wall and start feeling good again. Until the night rolled in.  The night was a whole new beast.  Trying to keep the pace and navigate the often trecherous trail proved diffucult.  This was the part that we were really concerned about.  Then when Alan got hurt and couldn't continue the support crew assumed it was over.  But I couldn't quit.  I just kept thinking about my students.  Specifically about the ones that I didn't reach.  The ones that never bought into what we were doing.  I knew I had to keep going for them.  To prove to them that anything is possible when you work hard.  It was tough for the crew to let me go but once they saw how strongly I felt about it they let me push on.  It was not fun running the rest of the night portion alone but the thought of my students kept me going.

At day break I had run roughly 75 miles.  I felt great realizing I only had a marathon left.  But that feeling quickly faded as I entered North Carolina.  From around mile 86 to the finish was the toughest part of the run.  The climbs were long and steep and the terrain was very rocky.  I took me 2 hours to cover the last two miles of the trail.  By the end I was exhausted.  I sat down for maybe a total of 5 minutes before I turned to my wife and said, "let's just get out of here".  And then we left and went back to our hotel where I sat in a hot bath and ate a pizza.  It was a perfect ending to an amazing experience.  It was tough, eye opening, and surprisingly rejuvinating.  I feel like nothing can stop us this year.  We will make our goal.

-C. George

The 100 Mile Challenge:

Updates

**8/7/11 1:00pm** Chris has completed the 100 mile run in 30 hours, 11 minutes, and 35 seconds.  He is very tired, but happy to have completed the run.  We appreiciate all of your support in this fundraiser.  T-F-A!

 

**8/7/11 7:00am**Chris has reached the Dicks Gap check point.  The next check point will be at Deep Gap.  He is still very motivated, but is obviously very worn out.  He has run 76 miles.  Although he has not met the 24 hour goal, he is still working towards the 100 mile goal.  

 

**8/7/11 2:50 am**Chris has reached the Tray Gap check point.  He is doing well overall and is continuing on to the next check point at Dicks Gap.

 

**8/7/11 12:55 am**Chris and Alan have arrived at the Unicoi Gap.  Due to an ankle injury, Alan has had to stop the run and Chris will continue on.  We believe that Alan has a high ankle sprain.  Next stop will be Tray Gap. 

 

**8/6/11 8:00pm**Chris and Alan have reached the Hog Pen Gap.  They are still in good spirits and doing well overall.  The next update will be at the Unicoi Gap.  

 

**Update 8/6/11 5:35pm**Chris and Alan have reached the Neels Gap check point.  They are looking strong and are happy to have run 40 miles today.  The 24 hour goal may not be reached, but they do not intend on stopping until they reach 100 miles. T-F-A! T-F-A!  See update at the next check point at Hog Pen Gap.

 

**Update 8/6/11 2:15**Chris and Alan have arrived at the check point at Woody Gap.  Their spirits are still high, but there have been a few minor injuries.  The support vehicle had a flat tire, but it has been repaired just in time to get back on to the road.  See update in 10 miles.  They will be about 40% done with the overall run after this leg.  

 

**Update 8/6/11 11:00 am** Chris and Alan have arrived at the Hightower Gap check point.  They have expressed feeling well and appear to be in good overall shape. They got lost for about 15-20 minutes at the begining.  They are eatting lunch and replenishing their packs for the trail. The GPS seems to be non functional at this point, but we are working to get it back on track.  See update in 10 miles at next check point. T-F-A! T-F-A!

 

**Update 8/6/11 6:56 am**Chris and Alan just left the starting point at Amicalola Falls in Georgia.  They're on their way!  See update in 17 miles at next check point.

 

**Update 8/5/11 12:40pm** Based on the forecast we are expecting to see alot of rain.  With the amount of rain and tree cover we may experience spotty coverage with our GPS.  Our support crew will be working to fix the coverage and will post updates in this section.  Thanks for your understanding as we deal with the elements!

The Real Challenge:

“Educational inequity is the reality that where a child is born determines the quality of his or her education and life prospects.”

Educational inequality starts early and gets worse over time. By the time most economically challenged students reach high school they have a 50% chance of graduating by the age of 18. Those that do graduate from high school will, on average, perform at an 8th grade level. Only 1 in 10 students growing up in poverty will graduate from college. Educational inequality prevents students from reaching their full potential. It limits their life choices, professional options, and incomes.

This is the reality for many of my students at Cane Ridge High School in Nashville, TN. By the time my 12th grade Government students walk into my classroom on August 11th, they will already be several grade levels behind their more affluent peers. Many of my students come into to my classroom with a general belief that they are not capable of real success in the classroom. They feel and believe that the road before them is just too long and too steep for them to travel. As this past school year came to a close, I sat back to reflect on my students’ data for the year. I looked over it, and looked over it, and looked over it. And even though my students made significant gains by mastering 76% of the Tennessee State Standards, I realized it just wasn’t good enough. Many of them are still behind. As I came to this realization I asked myself, “what obstacles contributed to us falling short of our goal of 80% mastery?" One obstacle kept coming to the front of my mind:  their general disbelief that they could achieve at the beginning of the year, caused us to start slow, and therefore we missed a valuable opportunity to make significant gains early in the school year.

I knew I had to do something to help my students quickly overcome this obstacle next school year if we were going to reach our goal. That is why my friend and I came up with the 100 Mile Challenge. I want to prove to my students that if you work hard on a daily basis you can accomplish amazing things. I want to show them this. Not just tell them, but truly show them that great things are possible when you work hard. To accomplish this we decided that we will make a video diary of the 100 Mile Challenge to share with my students on the first day of class, and have it available online to help inspire as many students as possible, so they believe that great things are possible when you work hard.  As for the second obstacle, that is where you come in. If you would like to help ensure that my students have the opportunity to receive and excellent education please sponosor me as a Teach for America Corps Member by making a donation. Thank you for your support. With your help, one day all children will have the opportunity to receive an excellent education.