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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY – Children will race to help fundraise for the school’s playground and the new school mascot’s name will be revealed during this year’s Boosterthon at Inverness Elementary School.

IES will host its annual Boosterthon event on Tuesday, Oct. 3 to raise funds for upgrades to its playground.

“The Boosterthon is always loud, exciting and fun for the kids,” said Mandee McDonald, president of the IES parent teacher organization.

The week of Sept. 24 marked the kick off for the Boosterthon as children and parents work together to raise funds. Children at IES gather pledges for each lap they run in the race.

“Some of them, of course, try to race but, for the most part, it’s just a fun run where they get to run around with their friends and celebrate that they have had a part in the success of the school,” McDonald said.

During the Boosterthon, the school will announce the name of its new baby eagle mascot.

“We have a new mascot, and we’ve had a naming competition with community members,” Principal Brooke Dunham said. “We’ll be announcing the name and having new spirit wear at our Boosterthon and have it really be a community family fun event.”

Temper Coffee’s food truck will attend the event and will be naming one of its beverages after the school’s new mascot.

If the school’s goal of $45,000 is raised, the event will end with a school-wide reward in which the children get to embarrass their principals.

“All the kids in the classes will get to spread ketchup and mustard on us and all kinds of other toppings and we’ll be dressed up in costumes,” Dunham said. “They’ll be really excited about that.”

McDonald spoke on the school’s reason for upgrading its playground.

“It’s not as safe as I would like it to be and it wasn’t accessible enough to our students who have mobility issues or even size issues now that we have preschoolers at our school,” she said. “It’s really been a group effort to try to design a playground that is safe and accessible but also helps kids practice critical thinking.”

McDonald shared she believes that the school will exceed its fundraising goal.

“It’s been going great so far and we’re excited,” she said. “It looks like we’re going to exceed our goal, so we’re really excited about that and being able to finish the playground that we just started.”

Those interested in learning more about the Inverness Elementary School PTO can visit the groups official Facebook page at Facebook.com/iespto.