Ontario Schools

Find 52: Pass the Baton

STUDENTS RUNNING FOR THE RIGHT TO READ

Find 52: Pass the Baton connects Ontario schools to our National Relay for students in St. Lucia. Between March Break and the second week of June, schools in Ontario run a relay event. Watch the video below and see what all the excitement is about. 

An enormous thanks to the students and staff of Centennial CVI for organizing not one, but two, running events. (The baked goods were awesome.) Thanks also to CSC MonAvenir schools in Guelph, Cambridge and Waterloo for sponsoring us at ​“La Grand Course” et grand merci to the entire school community of EEC Saint-René-Goupil.

Not in Ontario? Not a problem.

We’re happy to have schools from other areas get involved. Contact us for details. 

I do a lot of running but the world runs on reading. And I encourage all schools to get involved with Find 52: Pass the Baton…and support global literacy.
ERIC GILLIS
Canadian Olympic Marathoner

Students at EEC St. Rene-Goupil, in Guelph pledged their support. image
Micoud Secondary school student gave a shout out to Haliburton Highlands SS. image
Awefully big shoes for Micoud Primary students to fill–but happy to try! image
Canadian Olympian Eric Gillis chats with Amber, an Olympic hopeful, at CCVI in Guelph. image
2018 Day 1 Start line with students at Soufriere Primary School. image
Principal Scot Bishop dreams of running one day. image
CCVI students on track to make a difference. image
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In Words & Pictures

How to run a Find 52: Pass the Baton event at your school
Start by downloading pledge sheets, announcements, and posters. We’ll send you a ​‘Really Big Shoe’ into which runners and fans can ​“toss a toonie.” After recording supporter names on your pledge sheets, be sure to send them to us so we can curl them into a specially-labeled baton with your school name and take them to St. Lucia for the next National Relay in 2020.

Check out some of the pictures from 2017 and 2018 when St. Lucia students carried batons from Ontario schools. In 2017, runners completed 4.5 marathons in 5 days. And during our 2018 run, a slightly different route to include a larger number of St. Lucian students, featured a 129 km-relay! That’s 3 full marathons in three days. It is amazing how far your support for literacy can really go! Batons let your students go every step of the way with St. Lucian runners.

Pick a day before the end of the school year that suits you. Go indoors or out: it’s your choice.
Elementary schools can hold their event during a scheduled Track & Field Day. High schools might, like Guelph’s Centennial CVI, organize an annual event. No track? No problem. We want schools to get creative so they can fill their ​‘Really Big Shoe’ with tons of toonies. Ultimately, it’s about showing support for literacy and having some fun! Schools that participated in the last two years are listed below.

Here’s what Find 52: Pass the Baton schools receive
Schools should confirm participation by e-mail then we’ll ship you a ​‘Really Big Shoe’. Posters, pledge sheets and morning announcements – they’re all downloadable on this page.

Contact us soon to sign up!

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In 2017, Teacher Michele Shapira (pink jacket) and staff and students at Haliburton Highlands raised a record $5,200.
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2018 Day 1 Start line with students at Soufriere Primary School.
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2018 Day 1 Reunion School students love to read and they sure love to run, too!
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2018 Day 1 No hill is too steep for Augier Combined School students. Mile sponsored by OSSTF.
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2018 Day 1 A really hot stretch of the late-morning route with Mon Repos School.
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2018 Day 1 Students from Clendon Mason Secondary School practically sprinted every step of their mid-day mile!
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2018 Day 1 Our last group after a very hot and hilly 40+ KM with Monchy Primary School. We got this!
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2018 Day 2 starts with runners from Roseau and Millet Schools.
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2018 Day 3 A glorious and rare downhill section with students from Bouton School.
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2018 Team Canada and St Lucia glad to be outside of the ambulance - not in! Missing from photo is CDN runner and trainer Albert Klein.
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Letting the Guelph community know Spartans will go the distance for literacy.
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2017 Day 1 begins with Soufriere Primary students. The first mile is all up hill!
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2017 Day 2 Starts with kids from the Special Education School in Augier.
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2017 Day 2 Pierrot students take a well deserved water break after they completed the hardest section of the whole route. All uphill! Every. Step.
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2017 Day 4 A very hot finish to the day in Cul De Sac. No students running with us along this busy stretch of highway.
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2017 Day 5 Final 6 KM all downhill with students from Bouton. Back to where it all started!
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2017 Day 5 That's a wrap - 4.5 marathons in 5 days saw $52K raised for literacy programs.
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2018 Many happy feet find their size from donated shoes brought all the way from Ontario.
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June 2019 Staff and students from CCVI join Rickson Ridge PS as they gear up for their school-wide relay.
In 2017, Teacher Michele Shapira (pink jacket) and staff and students at Haliburton Highlands raised a record $5,200. image
2018 Day 1 Start line with students at Soufriere Primary School. image
2018 Day 1 Reunion School students love to read and they sure love to run, too! image
2018 Day 1 No hill is too steep for Augier Combined School students. Mile sponsored by OSSTF. image
2018 Day 1 A really hot stretch of the late-morning route with Mon Repos School. image
2018 Day 1 Students from Clendon Mason Secondary School practically sprinted every step of their mid-day mile! image
2018 Day 1 Our last group after a very hot and hilly 40+ KM with Monchy Primary School. We got this! image
2018 Day 2 starts with runners from Roseau and Millet Schools. image
2018 Day 3 A glorious and rare downhill section with students from Bouton School. image
2018 Team Canada and St Lucia glad to be outside of the ambulance - not in! Missing from photo is CDN runner and trainer Albert Klein. image
Letting the Guelph community know Spartans will go the distance for literacy. image
2017 Day 1 begins with Soufriere Primary students. The first mile is all up hill! image
2017 Day 2 Starts with kids from the Special Education School in Augier. image
2017 Day 2 Pierrot students take a well deserved water break after they completed the hardest section of the whole route. All uphill! Every. Step. image
2017 Day 4 A very hot finish to the day in Cul De Sac. No students running with us along this busy stretch of highway. image
2017 Day 5 Final 6 KM all downhill with students from Bouton. Back to where it all started! image
2017 Day 5 That's a wrap - 4.5 marathons in 5 days saw $52K raised for literacy programs. image
2018 Many happy feet find their size from donated shoes brought all the way from Ontario. image
June 2019 Staff and students from CCVI join Rickson Ridge PS as they gear up for their school-wide relay. image
Thanks to our 2019 schools
2019 SCHOOLS CITY, TOWN OR SCHOOL BOARD AMOUNT
Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute Guelph $4000.00
Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Elementary School Burlington $1364.25
Rickson Ridge Elementary School  Guelph $900.00
Saint James Catholic High School Guelph
École élémentaire catholique Saint-René-Goupil Guelph $455.00
Thanks to our 2018 schools
2018 SCHOOLS CITY, TOWN or SCHOOL BOARD AMOUNT
Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute May 30, Guelph $1500.00
École élémentaire catholique St-René Goupil May 14, Guelph $537.00
ES Père-René-de-Galinée June 13, Cambridge $700.00
Anonymous donation $500.00
Thanks to our 2017 schools
2017 SCHOOLS CITY, TOWN or SCHOOL BOARD AMOUNT
Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute Guelph $1766.00
École élémentaire catholique St-René Goupil Guelph $582.00
Haliburton Highlands Secondary School Haliburton $5200.00
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic HS Guelph $400.00
St. Leo Catholic School Brooklin $355.00
John Galt Public School Guelph $297.00
École secondaire catholique Père-René-de-Galinée Cambridge $568.00
Downloads
Download pass_the_baton_poster2020
Download sample-school-announcements2
Download school-info2
Download sign-up-sheet
2019

Find 52: Pass the Baton

$6,719

raised of $10,000 goal

Campaign concluded on Sun, June 30 2019

67

% raised
More Campaigns
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Find 52: Track and Field Teams
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Find 52: Author Day
Find 52 started in Grenada
52 miles gets you right around this small, beautiful island. Companions on the second day included: Philip Clift from Petite Anse Hotel, an enthusiastic young boy and one very fit dog named "Dodgy".

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.

ST. AUGUSTINE
International Literacy Day 2016
Soufrière Primary ran a relay on September 8, 2016 to celebrate reading. The event was filmed as part of the "run-up" to our first Find 52 Thousand campaign in 2017. Over 1,000 students from grade 3-12 ran 1 mile segments right around St. Lucia.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

Albert Einstein
(1879-1955)
Fundraising is an Uphill Battle
In January 2015, I ran 52 miles in Grenada. Let me dismiss athletic motives; it so happens 52 miles gets you all the way around the island. I did it for money – $40,000 – all of which went to OneWorld Schoolhouse. CTV National news ran the story on May 25, 2015 and so began Find 52.

All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.

James Thurber
Finding the way for Fundraising
Olympian Jake Holden and Richard Clewes survey the route for Find 52 in January 2016. The duo were joined by St. Lucian Olympic athletes and members of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force.

A road is a song, a poem, a movie, an adventure. It's hope and optimism, and inquisitiveness.

A. A. GILL
The Angry Isle