@4 Hour Relay Keeps Kids in SchoolRunner’s Gazette August 2012

Runner’s Gazette August 2012

24 Hour Relay Keeps Kids in School
By David Block

In most cases, a race or a relay is when runners try to win or set personal bests.

The 24 Hour Relay Challenge’s mission is quite different. When Ashanti Branch launched it eight years ago in 2005 at San Lorenzo High school (in San Lorenzo, California), his goal was to keep students from dropping out. From being a math teacher there, he witnessed the high dropout rate firsthand and wanted to stop it.

“Our students sometimes don’t have a connection to school,” said Branch. “They don’t have special relationships with any of the teachers, they don’t have a group of friends who push them to stay in school, so sometimes they quit.”

In 2004, Branch began the Ever Forward Club to help certain kids pass algebra. He knew that that was not enough to make them feel part of the school’s community. Community service was no option because the students viewed it as nothing more than a punishment for criminals.

“I thought of having a 24-hour relay,” said Branch, who knew that similar events took place in other parts of the Golden State. He wanted to bring the relay to San Lorenzo High School, so the students could challenge themselves, build community, and camp out on the football field. The relay was open to anyone, not just those enrolled at San Lorenzo.

When Branch told his Ever Forward Club members about his idea, many of them looked confused and bewildered. For him, that was a clear indication that it was going to work. They wanted to be outrageous and do unheard of things like camp out on the football field, run and walk around the track past midnight.
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The relay took place Saturday Memorial Day Weekend from 10:00 AM to Sunday 10:00 AM and 50 people participated.

Relay teams consisted of 10 members who took turns running or walking one mile intervals around the track.

Branch remembered how a specific student tried to quit. (His name cannot be used.) Branch reiterated:

“He had his bag packed and said his legs were hurting, he was tired and was going home. I said, ‘here’s where you push yourself. Here’s where you step beyond what you think you can’t do. I’ll walk your next mile with you.’ He stuck it out and was grateful. He ended up graduating from college.”

That September, swarms of San Lorenzo High School students, some of whom thought about quitting school the previous year, asked Branch if the relay was going to happen again.

“Of course it will,” Branch told them.
He was thrilled that the relay finally connected them to school, enough to stick around and graduate.
For the past three years, the 24 Hour Relay Challenge has taken place at Cal. State East Bay in order to motivate other troubled students in the Bay area to participate. While at San Lorenzo High School, students from other schools assumed that it was just a San Lorenzo event.

For more information log onto www.everforwardclub.org