Hyer Hosts Inaugural Turkey Trot

Students at Hyer Elementary kicked off Thanksgiving break with some festive fun on Nov. 22 during the school’s first-ever Turkey Trot.

The event on Hyer’s newly-turfed field was no ordinary pre-feast race. Students played classic games with a Thanksgiving twist, including “Traffic Yam,” which challenged them to race with a yam inside a pair of tongs, and “Drumstick Dash,” a sack race given its name because the competitors resembled turkey legs.

Teachers and staff got a slice of the action by donning inflatable turkey costumes and competing in the Turkey Teacher Dash.

“I loved it. Where else can I wear an inflatable and run around a field? I don’t know,” third-grade teacher Courtney Casselman told students after the race. “This was really fun.”

Casselman’s students enjoyed watching the competition, and said they were proud of her performance. “It was good,” third-grader Grace Goyne said. “My teacher got second place!”

Everyone was a winner in these turkey games. All dashers received gift cards that they could use to buy ingredients for their own Thanksgiving feasts, and the speediest staff members took home special turkey hats. Students each received small gift bags when they returned to their classrooms.

“I hope they just have a really fun experience with their classmates,” Hyer PTA president Ann Higginbottom said, “and that it just propels them into the Thanksgiving break feeling filled up and loved and celebrated.” 

Higginbottom and the PTA’s special events team began working on the Turkey Trot in August. Since it was a new event, the team designed the morning’s activities from scratch. About 50 volunteers helped out on turkey day.

Higginbottom said the PTA plans for the Turkey Trot to become an annual celebration at Hyer.

“I feel like our events tend to almost hop-scotch over Thanksgiving,” she said. “And we just thought well this is so fun, to get to commemorate the Thanksgiving season.”