Florida Teacher Makes a $10,000 Run for School Supplies

By Meredith Barnett

When Tenoroc High School teacher Rafael Martin assembled his supply lists for the year, he knew many of his students would be unable to afford even paper. So last week he went the distance — literally — to help, running 50 miles from his school in Lakeland, Fla., to Orlando to raise funds and awareness for his high school students’ needs.

“They desperately need these supplies. Every day I have to provide pencils or paper,” said Martin, who teaches special education. “It’s sad, but you have to do whatever you can to help the kids.”

Martin’s supply run, which began at 6 a.m. with a good-luck rub of the “rock” in front of his school, paid off even more than he’d hoped. He knew that Office Max had agreed, through its “A Day Made Better” school supplies campaign, to match his fund-raising efforts. (He was joined on the trek by ultramarathoner Zach Gingerich on behalf of the “A Day Made Better” campaign.) At the finish line, though, Martin was surprised with more than $10,000 of school supplies from the company, including 50 digital cameras, calculators, copy paper, binders, and more.

“Aside from my children being born, this is the happiest day of my life,” Martin said after the race. “I’ve never felt more accomplished and empowered to make a difference for my school and am so thankful for everyone’s support.”

Successfully completing the 15-hour trek is quite an achievement for this 41-year-old father of three. Martin deadpanned before the event that his goal, besides raising supply money, was to “finish the whole way and not go to the hospital.” He first attempted this 50-mile dash in May, but passed out from dehydration painfully close to the finish — at mile 48.5. He later went back to finish the last mile and half, to uphold his promise.

This time, despite blisters and searing pain in his legs, he crossed the finish at about 9:15 p.m., on an adrenaline high.

“That was all worth it,” he said.

Martin’s dedication energized many members of his community, who donated to his cause and gathered along the route to cheer, raising signs that read, “Mr. Martin ROCS!” He also carried with him the support of his students. After school, when he trained on the track outside Tenoroc, students would call “Good job, Mr. Martin!,” spurring him on.

“They are very supportive. Some of them want to run with me, but I’ve discouraged that,” he said.

Teaching is more than just a job to Martin – it’s his calling, and it emerged long after his school days, which he spent struggling to focus. It wasn’t until he was a student at the University of Florida that he realized he’d had a learning disability all along. When he was laid off from his first career as a parts analyst for Advanced Auto Parts, he decided to hit the books again and give teaching special education a try.

“I wish I had a teacher like me when I was in school who could understand what I was going through,” said Martin. “I try to be that understanding person for my students, connect with them, and make learning obtainable.”

Tenoroc has been Martin’s home for the last three years, and said he wants to stay there for the rest of his career. Many of the school’s students come from very poor backgrounds. Martin said he’s seen students braving chillier temperatures in blankets, because they could not afford winter coats.

These students aren’t alone in their need – Martin said undertaking this project has opened his eyes to the lack of basic supplies in schools across the country. He hopes his journey will encourage other educators to take a stand.

“Think creatively, outside the box. Don’t do things the way you’ve always done them. I’m not saying for them to go run 50 miles,” he added, noting that the only way for teachers to inspire change is to talk to each other and raise awareness about the issues they face.

But, if teachers do decide to run 50 miles, they might want to spend the next weekend recovering, like Martin did. Back at Tenoroc, the big run may be over, but there’s one more step to completing the trip — distributing new supplies to every teacher.

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