OLPH principal raises funds, awareness with 24-hour marathon
Steve Beyl ’99 continues to do creative and fun things to lead Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in his second year as principal. Last week, he ran a 24-hour “marathon” to raise money to support Catholic education. The idea came to run a mile at a time over a day as a way to promote the SGO Tax Credit Scholarship Fund while he was running for his daily exercise in his neighborhood.
He said he was dissatisfied with how well he had gotten out the message of the SGO program and its benefit to students in Catholic schools during his time as principal as well as the public’s understanding of the program. With the pandemic affecting the economy, he knew more families would be in need of these Tax Credit Scholarships. He came up with the idea to run one mile at a time each hour over a 24-hour period to bring attention to the cause. He had never run a long-distance race before and knew a true marathon would not be doable, but breaking it down in manageable chunks would also help to draw attention to his cause.
“There is no way I could run a ‘real’ marathon of 26.2 miles straight, but I thought this was possible — and the 24-hour time period without sleep would be a challenge,” Beyl said.
Source: Our Lady of Perpetual Help School Facebook page
His hope was to raise $2,000, but his primary goal was to increase awareness and understanding of the program. Donations to the program offer a tax credit to the donor and an opportunity for students in financial need to receive a scholarship to attend a non-public school like OLPH.
“That was honestly my number-one goal, but of course, we actually wanted to raise some funds while we were at it,” he said. “I think we all know that during this uncertain time we are going to have to help not only potential new families, but current families as well. The funds in this account can make the difference on a child enrolling in our school.”
He started his run last Thursday night at 8:00 with a 3.2-mile run. He then rested until the next hour when he ran another mile. He posted his progress on social media, drawing attention virtually and in person as well.
From midnight to 8 a.m., he was joined by three others who ran and rested with him at a distance — OLPH third grade teacher and PHS assistant golf coach Pat McGuire and former PHS coworkers Brad Burden (Spanish teacher and Girls Basketball coach) and Bart Makowsky ’87 (theology teacher).
“Having their company as we all sat far away to keep our distance in those overnight hours was so helpful,” Beyl said.
The biggest help was yet to come.
Source: Our Lady of Perpetual Help School Facebook page
“Once daybreak came, families and students just kept showing up outside my house and along the running route,” Beyl said. “I couldn’t believe it. On the final run, the entire route was filled with students, teachers, and staff from Our Lady. It was an amazing feeling to run and see so many familiar faces who cared enough to be there for the end of the 24-hour marathon.”
His marathon raised more than $8,100 in donations to the SGO program and the awareness he wanted. It’s just one of many ways Beyl has been creative in keeping his students connected during the extended eLearning period. Beyl or one of his teachers hosts a Facebook Live event every evening, telling stories or playing trivia games. In-person morale boosters, like the families who cheered on his last mile, are important too, with teachers doing drive-by parades and yard visits to students, who do their schoolwork on their own or school-loaned Chromebooks.
“I can’t say enough about how hard they have worked to maintain those personal connections,” Beyl said. “I’m blessed and lucky to have such an outstanding staff.”
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