The three teenagers are average in most aspects except one. They all enjoy hanging with friends, going to the mall, playing sports like football and basketball.
But Pin Oak Middle School 8th graders Dalfred Green, Emmanuel Ellerbee and Blaise Bell have also been willing to sacrifice time after school nearly every day since August 2009 to serve a greater good:
Pin Oak 8th graders Dalfred Green, Emmanuel Ellerbee and Blaise Bell have worked since August 2009 to bring a new athletics track to their school.
Getting a new, professional athletics track at their school. This Saturday they’re asking for the Bellaire community’s help with fund raising.
The old track is more of a trail than anything: It is made of gravel and red cedar, and much of that material washed away during Hurricane Ike. The track is currently inaccessible for students in wheelchairs.
“It has potholes, and humps and bumps in it,” said 14-year-old Dalfred Green.
“Last year, a boy I’m very close to, he just kind of got hurt a little bit,” said 13-year-old Blaise Bell. “That really inspired me to get a new track.”
Emmanuel Ellerbee, 13, said that last year, he and the 7th grade track team had first-hand experience with the damaged track.
“We were not able to run on the red cedar path out there,” he said.
The students have been friends for years, and now they’re on the same team in a community service class called Dissertation. Joan Linsley, an American history teacher who advises the group, said that three other teams in the past have devoted their service projects to getting a new track at Pin Oak. But Bell, Ellerbee and Green have gotten farthest towards reaching the goal.
“I think that if we ever get a track here it will be because of their efforts,” Linsley said. “They’re just three very talented, bright, exciting young men.”
The team — dubbed the World Class Sprinters — hopes the new track will encourage students and community members to exercise more, fighting obesity and other health problems in Bellaire.
At the beginning of the school year the team set out collecting survey data from students and the community. With support from the Pin Oak PTO and their own parents, the students held meetings with architects to learn about different materials and designs for the new track. They considered how it would feel to run on the track, and how the materials would hold up to frequent use.
Finally, they won approval from the Pin Oak administration and faculty for a $250,000 track that has three lanes constructed from an astroturf-type material. The 445-meter track will loop around the existing football fields and basketball courts.
“It’s more solid, and it makes a big difference when you’re running,” Ellerbee said. “We decided, go ahead and lets make it spray paint blue, for Chargers.”
This Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., another leg of the project begins: Fundraising. The boys are holding the Spring4IT Walk-A-Thon, an event that will try to promote health and exercise while also raising money for the track.
Participants can register for the walking activity for $10, but the event includes many other “thons” for $2 each that include activities like hula hooping, soccer, basketball and Zumba. Everyone besides elementary school students are asked to collect additional pledges of $30 for the track. Participants can pay a reduced registration fee if they bring three nonperishable food items for the Houston Food Bank.
“I’m looking forward to raising the money for the track,” Green said.
“I’m most looking forward to having a great time and making sure everyone enjoys themselves,” Ellerbee said.
“We just wanted to leave a legacy at our school,” Bell said.
