The day which is dedicated to the annual fund raising event, the marathon walk is a day in which our boys manifest their resilience. The minute the enter school, they run to join their friends to play football. It is the only day, except for the last day before the Christmas holidays that they can start playing this early.
This rhythm keeps on going until the assembly bell calls everyone to line-up for the morning prayers, the announcements and the much awaited amount of the sum of money that the students managed to collect.
At around 08:10 all the students assembled and the Headmaster led the prayers and some announcements. He then told the students that on behalf of the school’s Board of Directors he would like to thank the generosity exhibited by many of the students who sought hard to collect the sum of €14,009. This money will be spent on projects that continue to enable our students to be provided with more teaching aids, more equipment and a better school environment.
At around 08:30 all the buses were waiting for us to drive us up to Siggiewi from where we were to start our walk. Blue sky, mild breeze and warm temperature were to accompany us throughout the day, it seemed it couldn’t be better.
The walk in the countryside at this time of the year, the beautiful scenes of the Mediterranean blue sea, the occasional whistling of the birds, the narrow country roads and the company of friend all add up to a memorable experience, something that many ex-students talk about when they either write about their school memories or talk about when they visit us.
This year’s Marathon Walk took us first from Girgenti to Fawwara. After a short break we walked up to the Dingli Cliffs from where we could enjoy some spectacular panorama and had the second opportunity to stop for a second short break. The laziest would start grumbling while the smartest would walk in front with the desire that they reach the football ground first and thus choose the best area where to play. The third and last leg was from Dingli Cliffs straight to the heart of this beautiful quiet village, where the football ground lies.
After an hour in which some played, others scouted the surroundings while other simply basked in the sun, the coaches arrive to drive us back to our school. At around 13:30 the students were called to be given small gifts as tokens for their effort in raising funds for the school. While these gifts were being distributed, the strongest kept on playing and running around to demonstrate their agility. The last item on the day’s menu was the much awaited fur lottery of the big prize. Tickets are given to the students in proportion of the amount they collected, then these tickets will be put in a box from which the winning name is drawn. This year fortune smiled to Ethan Borg of Form 5A who will be finishing school soon as he is one of our finalists.
More photos: http://www.stmichaelschool.edu.mt/galleries/gallery10.php
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