BEL AIR, Md. - HAR-CO Maryland Federal Credit Union recently honored the Southampton Middle School Marathon of Achievement winners with a dinner reception and awards banquet.
For six months Southampton Middle School 7-D classroom students pushed themselves to complete a grueling marathon of completing 26 activities in academics, service learning and character education.
The Marathon of Achievement is a way for the students to excel outside of their regular studies. Created four years ago by Southampton teachers, the goal was to challenge students and to offer each of them a chance to be a winner. Students are given a list of 30 possible activities; they must choose and complete 26 in six months. All of the work must be completed outside the school day's requirements. Some of the challenges included reading five different books and doing a brief summary report of each, researching the Fibonacci Pattern, giving up TV for a full week, writing to Congress or creating a photo journal of Harford County. In past years the students have been honored by Michael Phelps and Miss Maryland, but this year the credit union tapped Harford County's own skating superstar Kimmie Meissner to present the keynote speech and award each of the 35 participants their medal of honor.
"Supporting the students in the Marathon of Achievement is one of the most exciting aspects of our partnership with Southampton Middle School," says Jim Meehan, president/CEO of HAR-CO.
