Laurel Elementary receives track grant from Chargers

Oceanside — Freddie Chavarria, principal at Laurel Elementary School in Oceanside, didn’t like seeing low test score results on physical fitness reports for his nearly 500 students.

Since the 2011-12 school year, Laurel’s physical fitness scores — which measure everything from upper body strength and flexibility to aerobic capacity and abdominal strength —had landed the school’s K-5 students near the bottom of the rankings in the Oceanside Unified School District.

Chavarria wanted to reverse that trend, so he came up with the idea of building a running track. With the help of several teachers, he submitted an application to the Chargers Champions program and won a $30,000 grant to cover the cost of the project.

Chargers Champions was created in 2000 to assist San Diego County schools with meeting students’ physical fitness, nutrition and athletic needs. Made up of funds donated by the Chargers’ Spanos family and the Chargers Community Foundation, the program has already has doled out $250,000 to schools this year, and given more than $5 million to 110 schools throughout San Diego County since its inception.

On Tuesday, Laurel hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the new crushed-granite track. Attendees included hometown hero Willie Buchanon, who played professional football for years with the San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers, and the family of Junior Seau, the beloved former Chargers linebacker who committed suicide roughly three years ago at his beachfront home in Oceanside.

Buchanon and Seau both were graduates of Laurel Elementary and grew up in the city’s tight-knit Eastside community.

“I can still see (Junior) in my mind, everywhere I go,” said Seau’s father, Tiana T. Seau, who proudly helped cut the ribbon unveiling the track. “He talks to me and makes me strong.”

Seau’s sister, Annette So’oto, and her son, Mckyle, also attended the ceremony, as did current Charger football players Nick Dzubnar, a linebacker, and Steve Williams, a cornerback.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Annette So’oto. “This is where it all starts,” she said of the school’s physical fitness push.

The school already is known for it’s Hall of Fame, something Buchanon started in 1982 to honor local luminaries who attended Laurel and who’ve become outstanding role models.

Buchanon, Seau, baseball player Chris Chambliss and Oceanside Superintendent Duane Coleman all attended Laurel, and their photos are among those of other Hall members displayed on a wall in the school’s tiny cafeteria. Sports stars, musicians, actors, politicians and business leaders are counted among the nearly 90 other people who have been inducted into Laurel’s Hall of Fame over the years.

Chavarria — another Hall inductee — was emotional about the track dedication on Tuesday.

“We made a commitment to increase fitness, healthy minds and bodies as a pathway to increase academics,” said the principal, who fondly recalled being a student at Laurel when Buchanon began the Hall of Fame. He said the school has opted to open up the new track once or twice in the mornings, where parents can come and exercise after dropping off their children at school.

“This is huge,” he said.

The track, which takes about five laps for a mile, is to be formally called the “Laurel Running Track in honor of Willie Buchanon & Junior Seau.”

Laurel Elementary’s running track is the first project completed by the Chargers Champions this year.

Three schools awarded Chargers Champions grants this year are in the San Diego Unified School District, including De Portola Middle School ($40,000 for a rock wall and fitness equipment); Porter Elementary School ($10,000 for fitness equipment) and Gage Elementary School ($26,000 to develop a “neuronasium” to blend physical fitness and academics).

The program also awarded grants to San Elijo Middle School in San Marcos ($16,000 for a patch course, which is similar to a jungle gym play area with push-up bars, balance beams, exercise bike, and monkey bars); Sweetwater High School in National City ($63,000 for a weight room and football equipment); and Granite Hills High School in El Cajon ($65,000 for a weight room).

The program annually provides selected schools with grants of up to $75,000 for high schools; up to $40,000 for middle schools and up to $30,000 for elementary schools.