Runners take off Saturday at the Run With The Coyote 1-Mile Fun Run at the new Jubilee Leadership Academy on Main Street.(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)
Despite the threat of a sudden morning shower Saturday, spirits were high at Jubilee Leadership Academy as runners prepared to tackle the Run With the Coyote 1-Mile Fun Run through the grounds of the new campus on Main Street in Brownsville.
Future students, teachers and avid runners (along with one canine competitor) gathered at 8 a.m. to walk through the vendor booths and warm-up ahead of kick-off at 8:30 a.m. with a non-competitive three-lap 1 mile run to introduce the nearly finished addition to Brownsville’s education landscape.
With the campus officially opening its doors in August of 2022, Principal Lourdes de la Fuente is excited to see students and families on campus for the event.
“We decided to hold a run because events are one of the best ways to spread awareness in the community that we are now up and running and that the school is ready for the school year,” she said.
Before the construction of the new building, the school was operating at one of the buildings at Restauración y Poder Church on Jaime Zapata Boulevard.
Once the school year starts on August 15, 497 students are confirmed to attend the new campus.
To their principal, this fun run ahead of the new school year serves as a coming together moment for everyone who worked to make the new campus a reality.
“I think it is the culmination of a dream,” de la Fuente said.
Putting on her run T-shirt, Pre-K teacher Patricia Gomez stands by the race arch with her son fourth-grader Alec Flores and her father, Jesus Gomez.
Her father ran a mile from his house nearby to show his support, and after running the race, he’ll run the mile back in his personal 5K.
“We just came out to volunteer and run with the community because we are celebrating that we are getting a new school for the school year,” she said.
The event is partly a celebration but also a milestone marker as she counts down to the start of the new campus filling with students and teachers for the first time.
”It is an exciting new chapter for our campus…now we get to have events like this so that we can promote our school and show people that Jubilee is an exciting campus to be at,” she said.
