Photo by Gage Vota St. Mary’s Central School students attend the school's annual walk-a-thon fundraiser.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – St. Mary’s Central School hosted its annual walk-a-thon on Friday morning to raise funds for school needs, including books, technology, and classroom supplies.

Principal Angel Glitch said the walk began at St. Mary’s Church and saw the entire student body, teachers, and parent chaperones walk to the St. Clairsville Bike Trail and back.

“We spend about a month and a half collecting sponsors. The kids ask people to sponsor them. We have some corporate sponsors and parent or family member sponsors, and then on this day, we come out and take a walk,” Glitch said. “They can pay anything from $5 to whatever they want. So if they get nine sponsors of at least $5 each, they get a couple prizes.”

She added that if a student gets one sponsor, they earn a dress-down day. If they receive three sponsors, they get an extra recess. With six sponsors, they receive a bowling coupon from St. Clair Lanes, and if a student gets nine sponsors, they get to dress down for the rest of the year.

“Dress-down days are worth more than gold to our kids, so those kids starting Monday will get to dress down for the rest of the year,” Glitch said.

She also noted that not only did 100% of the student body participate, but most of the teaching staff joined in the walk as well.

Teachers who weren’t on the walk were busy preparing refreshments for the students’ return.

“We have water, fruit, and NutriGrain bars–those kinds of things. Some teachers are back at the school getting that ready so when the walkers come back, they’ll have it waiting for them,” Glitch said. “We had 100% student participation in the actual walk, and as far as donations, I’d say we had about 90% student participation, so that’s pretty good.”

She added that the event raised $25,000 through various sponsorships, which will go toward the school’s needs.

Corporate sponsors included American Consolidated Natural Resources, Moore Enterprises, Colaianni Construction, Giacinta’s Gelato and Caffè, Audrey’s Kitchen and Bar, J. Schultz Excavating, Toothman Funeral Home, Harris Cattle Ranch, Harris Flower Ranch, Gallagher Monuments, St. Clairsville Chiropractic Clinic, Rumer Louden, Jacbee Honey, Steele Insurance, Kucera Plumbing, Osaka Steakhouse, Whiteside Chevrolet, Care Funeral Home, Lovell Safety Solutions, Dutton Land and Cattle, and Mason Dixon Energy.

Glitch also mentioned that another major initiative the school is raising funds for is a large renovation project.

Last summer, the school replaced its windows. This summer, the focus will be on installing a new electrical system, HVAC for air conditioning and heating, and upgraded Wi-Fi.

“Hopefully, they’ll finish the majority of it by the time school starts, but the completion of this phase should be done by November,” Glitch said. “Phase two will include adding more classrooms, a new central office, and replacing the modular trailer with new permanent classrooms. A lot of plans are in the works.”

St. Mary’s Central business manager Karen Gress said the project, which began in 2023, has a fundraising goal of $3 million.

“In the first three-year phase of the campaign, which is still ongoing, we received $1,325,000 from private donations from parishioners, school families, and local businesses, who pledged a total of $1,469,000. In addition, we received $58,500 from foundation grants,” Gress said. “We have now started the second three-year phase of the campaign to raise the remaining $1.5 million. Construction to upgrade the electrical, HVAC, roof, and fire/life safety systems will begin this spring. We are excited about the future at St. Mary’s Central and want to make our building a safe and modern place for our children to learn and grow. We are currently enrolling for the 2026-2027 school year, and we can offer the EdChoice Scholarship to every Ohio student to offset some or all of the cost of tuition.”