Auburn Elementary’s Fun Run finished its schoolwide challenge Oct. 9 with more than $25,000 raised for student activities. The K–5 school’s official post that day announced that it had reached its goal; the Midland Daily News reported the next day that the total went beyond $25,000. The annual event was Auburn’s first fundraiser of the school year, and proceeds are planned for engagement activities, celebrations and incentives for students.
Students took turns running around the school track, completing 20 laps in all, while music played and bubbles floated through the sunny morning, the newspaper reported. Principal Amy Bailey said Auburn has held the Fun Run for three years. She said organizers want the event to challenge students while making it memorable. Auburn Owls school spirit was part of the day, alongside activity stations set up around the course.
The 2026 theme was “World Foods.” Stations represented Mexico, Ireland, Italy, China and the United States, with games and activities at each stop. At the Italy station, children could pick up toy meatballs and, farther along the track, use a launcher to land them on a pile of spaghetti. The themed activity connected the food idea to a physical game while students moved through their laps.
The fundraising total rose beyond the amount organizers had set as the schoolwide target. When Bailey spoke with the Daily News during the event, she said the total was about $22,000; the follow-up report put it above $25,000. Bailey said prior fundraising helped buy a new play structure. This year’s proceeds are planned for student engagement activities, celebrations and incentives rather than one announced purchase.
Krista Hall, a parent of an Auburn third-grader and volunteer organizer, said the $25,000 target was intended to help the school offer more activities on campus. She pointed to the expense of travel, including high gas prices, as a reason to expand in-house options. The reported total ultimately passed that target.
The target came with a lighthearted challenge. Hall told the newspaper that Principal Bailey would eat bugs if students met the schoolwide goal. Bailey confirmed that she and a couple of teachers had agreed to do it. The report established that the school met and exceeded the target, but did not say whether anyone followed through on the promise, so the outcome remains unconfirmed.
Hall’s reason for volunteering was personal as well as practical. She attended Auburn as a third-grader more than 40 years ago and told the Daily News that her memories of that year were difficult. She wants her son’s experience to be different, with adults at school who know him and are glad to see him learning. Hall hopes he will look back on his school years with happy memories.
Hall also has a long connection to the local business that supported the event. Tri City Furniture, established in 1957, is a family business and Hall is its third-generation owner. She took it over from her parents, Lee and Kathy Kilbourn. The store donated the bounce houses and inflatables used at the Fun Run, while Hall volunteered time to help organize the event.
Bailey thanked Tri City Furniture for supporting the games and inflatables. Hall told the Daily News that giving back to the community has long been part of the company’s approach. The donated activities became part of the annual run, where students completed the laps.
After the run, Bailey credited Auburn families and the wider community for backing students. She said the school had met and exceeded the goal and described the day as one of excitement, laughter and memories for the Auburn Owls. Hall’s reason for organizing reached beyond the event itself: she told the newspaper she wanted every child to have the chance to feel successful and shine. The Daily News described the Fun Run as a way to promote student engagement, build school spirit and make learning fun, tying the fundraising target to a student experience.
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