Pyle students and staff ran the second annual 5K to promote physical fitness May 9 and 10.  This year’s run commemorated Kayla Wenger, a Pyle sixth-grader who lost her five-year battle with brain cancer March 8.

Laurie Wenger, Kayla’s mother, said she appreciated that the school held the event in Kayla’s honor.

“It means a lot to our family,” she said.  “Anything that someone does to try and keep her memory alive is a true honor.  We’re really proud of the impact she had on the community and her family and friends.”

The Pyle P.E. department organized the run as an opportunity to encourage students to live healthful lifestyles and set personal goals.

“We always stress challenging yourself in the classroom,” P.E. teacher Jodi Yates said. “This is one way we can stress challenging yourself physically and mentally.”

The school decided to dedicate the run to Wenger after P.E. teacher Dawn Byington, who taught Wenger, brought up the idea. P.E. teachers wore black t-shirts emblazoned with “Pyle 5K Kayla’s Way. Strength. Perseverance. Determination” in hot pink, Wenger’s favorite color.

“Kayla showed a tremendous amount of strength and determination in P.E. and I wanted to carry that over to help motivate the students,” Byington said.

P.E. teachers also used Wenger’s fight as a motivation for students to complete the run, even if it meant walking.

“We told the students that running for 30 to 40 minutes is nothing compared to what Kayla went through,” Yates said.  “Just try your hardest, and give it all you got.”

After completing the first lap, students received red wrist bands with the words “Run Hard, Be Strong, Think Big.”

The top ten boys and top ten girls from each grade received Pyle panther paw medals.

Laurie Wenger hopes the 5K will help people remember her daughter, who considered herself to be like everyone else.

“Kayla was full of energy, full of life, full of spirit, and despite all her disabilities from her cancer, she never played the sick girl,” Wenger said.  “She really wanted to be a normal teenager.”