19th Annual Martyr Marathon
Friday, September 15th at 9:30 - 11:45 AM
Martyr Marathon is our school’s largest fundraiser of the year. Students earn money for the school by walking the marathon route. Students are encouraged to collect pledges from family, friends, neighbors or businesses to support their effort. Donors then pledge a flat donation in support of our school.
Survivor: Outwit. Outpray. Outlast.
Where does the money that is raised go?
This year’s fundraising efforts will help to underwrite the cost of necessary security updates including replacing classroom door handles/locks and upgrading our internal communications system for teachers and staff. Additional funds raised will provide support for teachers and staff and help aid in any equipment needed for our school and/or classrooms, including updating the office and the outdoor early childhood area.
How do students collect pledges and raise money?
Ask friends and family! We are using PledgeStar again, like we have in the past. It is an online fundraising tool that makes it much easier for your child to request pledges and secure donations from family and friends – both near and far. Please follow the instructions below to register and start fundraising today!
When does the walk/event begin and what does it entail?
We will have grade level challenges all week long, starting on Sept. 11, building up to the event. See below for all the Sole Survivor competition details! The walk will be held Friday, September 15, 2023 for students in K through 8th grade. Activities will start right away following all school Mass and go until 11:45 AM.
Early Childhood Dance Parties
Our Early Childhood students will have Dance Parties instead of doing the walk with fun stations. The dates and times are as follows:
- Preschool (Gentile) & PreK (Tabaka): Monday, September 11th at 10:15 AM (morning classes) and 2:40 PM (afternoon classes)
- TK (Ferrante & Foster): Thursday, September 14th at 2:10 PM
K-2nd and 3rd-8th will have separate routes (see map below). There will be fun stations set up along the routes where classes will rotate through. Popcorn will be handed out to the classes at the conclusion of the walk that they can enjoy while dancing to the DJ.
- On Friday, at 8:15 AM, the row of parking nearest the church in the south parking lot and north parking lot, as well as the east parking lot and the road around the west side of the church, will be blocked off.
- The south entrance will be closed from 9:45 to 11:45 AM. Additionally, the roundabout and the first row of parking on the North side of the school (drop-off lane) will be blocked. We respectfully ask that anyone attending Mass/Martyr Marathon avoid parking in these areas during arrival.
- Martyr Marathon and Mass parking should take place in the North Parking lot in the second row and beyond. Any cars in the South lot after 9:45 AM will be blocked in until 11:45 AM
- Exceptions will be made for handicap-accessible vehicles.
- All barricades/cones in each lot will be lifted at 11:45 AM for school pick-up.
You will register as a family. Families with multiple students will have their totals split among their children.
- Go to pledgestar.com/Martyr
- Click on “Not Registered For This Year’s Event”
- Enter your name and email address (of the parent/guardian), then click “Register”
- Follow the on-screen instructions to verify your email address, add your student walker(s) and enter family and friends to receive pledge/donation requests.
Once your PledgeStar registration is complete, the system will email or text pledge/donation requests to family and friends which allows them to make secure credit card donations online, or they can use the pay by check option and they will receive instructions by email or text from PledgeStar. You can add additional family and friends on a later date as well.
Other exciting features: you can share your fundraising page via social media, you will get notified each time a pledge/donation is made, you can track your fundraising progress online, and a thank you note from your child will automatically be sent to those who donate online.
We encourage each family to set up a fundraising page! However, if you simply want to send checks to the school as it has been done in the past, we will accept them. Make checks out to “SSM Home and School” and send them to St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic School (16701 S Street, Omaha NE 68135) in an envelope marked “Martyr Marathon” with the child’s name in the check memo no later than September 15th, 2023. If you need receipts to give your donors collected outside of PledgeStar, please email us at ssmhomeandschool@gmail.com .
Fundraising begins Friday, August 25th, and will continue until the date of the Martyr Marathon on Friday, September 15th.
All-School Goal
If we reach our all-school goal of $80,000 as a school (including all early childhood students), each student will receive a goal bag full of gift cards, coupons, and other kid-friendly goodies AND all students and staff will earn a day off of school on Friday, October 6th!
Family Goal Prizes
If your family raises your family goal of $100, you will receive a St. Stephen the Martyr slim can koozie. But wait, there’s more! If you can raise more than your family goal, you will receive not only the slim can koozie, but the following Bonus Prizes too…
- Tier One $275 – SSM Flames Hat
- Tier Two $475 – SSM Drink Tumbler
- Tier Three $750 – SSM Canvas Tote Bag
Social Media and Blitz Prizes
We will be giving away daily prizes! Follow us on Facebook and on Instagram! Watch everyday from the kick off on Aug. 25th up until the event for fun questions for prize giveaways! Just click the links and like/follow our pages to find out more.
Grade Level Parties
New this year, the students will be competing as a whole grade against other grades, with 3 grades winning an outdoor party with Spectrum Snoballs on Thursday Sept. 28th! (date subject to change based on weather)
- Category 1: The grade that receives the most donation money (overall total including spare change challenge)
- Category 2: The grade that has the highest percentage of students who solicited a donation of any kind (percentage excludes the spare change challenge)
- Category 3: The grade that has the highest percentage of parent volunteers (volunteering includes leading up to, day of and post event activities)
Top Earning Student
The student that collects the most donation money (through Pledgestar or checks) gets to put Mrs. Perrault and Mr. Verraneault through a Survivor themed challenge at the post event assembly!
A series of challenges leading up to Martyr Marathon will determine the winner. The tribe that accumulates the most points over the week wins bragging rights AND gets to be the first tribe dismissed to experience the Martyr Marathon route! If early childhood is the overall winner then they earn the addition of popsicles at their dance party.
Monday, Sept. 11 – Food Drive
Help our community survive. What tribe can collect the most items for our food bank? Winners are determined by the most items collected per tribe.
Tuesday, Sept. 12 – Survivor Estimation
Each class guesstimates how many survivor items are in the jar. What survivor can get the closest to the actual number? Guesses closest to the actual number earn points for their tribe.
Wednesday, Sept. 13 – Survivor Spare Change Challenge
Fill your tribe’s container with spare change. What tribe can bring spare change that WEIGHS the most? The winners will be based on the heaviest containers. *the total money amount will be added to your grade level earnings that count toward the grade level parties for category 1 only, not toward individual earnings or participation.
Also on Wednesday – anyone who participates in the spare change challenge receives a Survivor water bottle sticker! Teachers will distribute to those who donate. Additional stickers will be available for $2 on Thursday after school and Friday.
Thursday, Sept. 14 – Survivor Color War
Dress head to toe in your tribe color! What tribe has the most class spirit? Mrs. Perrault and Mr. Verraneault will visit classrooms and determine the winning tribe.
- PreK & TK – Yellow
- Kindergarten – Pink
- 1st grade – Red
- 2nd grade – Blue
- 3rd Grade – White
- 4th grade – Purple
- 5th grade – Orange
- 6th grade – Black
- 7th grade – Green
- 8th grade – Gray
*Points available each day will be 3 points for first place, 2 points for second, 1 point for third.
Please make sure that your child has their permission slips handed into the school office by September 14th! Permission slips will be sent home in Friday Folders on Friday, August 25th. Please fill the form out out and return to school. If your child does not have a permission slip on file, your child will not be able to participate in the walk. If you need an additional copy please email us at ssmhomeandschool@gmail.com .
We need volunteers like you to make our 19th Annual Martyr Marathon a success! There are lots of ways to get involved and help out on the day of the event and even before and after. Remember…your student’s grade could win a party with your volunteer sign up!
You can sign up in the school app by clicking the “volunteer” icon or here:
Join us for the Volunteer Informational Meeting the night before on Thur. Sept. 14th at 7:30-8 PM in the GPC. We will stuff popcorn bags following the meeting around 8 PM.
All signed-up volunteers will receive a Martyr Marathon t-shirt (while supplies last). You can pick this up at the Volunteer Meeting or the morning of the event. We hope to see you there!
For questions, please contact the committee at ssmhomeandschool@gmail.com .
Want to make a bigger impact?
Does your employer have a Matching Gift policy? It’s a great way to make your donation go even further. Please reach out to ssmhomeandschool@gmail.com for a letter on behalf of St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic School along with the IRS 501© (3) letter to submit to your company if they have not previously matched. Some companies that have matched in the past include Union Pacific, First Data, 3M, Mutual of Omaha, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Raytheon.
We are so grateful for our 2023-2024 St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic School Corporate Sponsors who have contributed this year! Please support these area businesses and thank them for their generosity!
Premier
- Investors Realty
- Platte River Concrete
- Smile Station Pediatric Dentistry
Diamond
- Chick-fil-A-Legacy Village
- Dustin Ourada – Farmers Insurance
- Quality Dental Care
Platinum
- Skutt Catholic High School
Gold
- Action Batteries Unlimited
- DJ’s Dugout
- Echelon Homes
- Elevate Search Partners
- Exterior Remodel & Design
- Eye Consultants, P.C.
- Frontier Bank
- Frost Periodontics & Dental Implants
- Fusion Dance Omaha
- Husker Dock & Lift
- Lori Havens, Berkshire Hathaway
- HomeServices
- Phoenix Restoration Services
- Pioneer Underground
- Tiburon Golf Club
- T.J. O’Leary, Berkshire Hathaway
- HomeServices
Silver
- J Squared Plumbing
- Mount Michael Benedictine School
Bronze
- Belcher Family Dentistry
- Boys Town Pediatrics
- Darland Construction Co.
- Duchesne Academy
- Mama’s Pizza
- Nebraska Dance
- Brian Ford, Knights of Columbus Insurance
