Events
Scoot for Your School!
Middle School Hoopathon!
Two Events, One Fundraiser!
Scootathon:
We're excited for the 17th Annual Scootathon! This year, we're happy to announce we have officially embraced the organic transformation of Scootathon as an athletic event for grades 5 and younger, on "The Mini Loop" in the Nethermead of Prospect Park, directly following May Fair, on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026. (We've added an exciting companion athletic fundraiser for middle schoolers this year, called Hoopathon, taking place on April 24-25 at Brooklyn Waldorf School.)
May Fair & Scootathon remains an ALL COMMUNITY EVENT, with all grades participating in May Pole dances in the morning. But, "The Big Loop" is being retired. "The Mini Loop" is the small paved sidewalk path that encircles the Nethermead (but is not entirely visible from the lawn), and this is where all the Scootathon action will be centered (this has been happening anyway but we're making it official.)
This loop is reserved for children and students up to 5th grade, and scooting is the preferred vehicle. (Bicycles are not ideal on this path, as they overwhelm scooters.) IT IS NOT A RACE, and children are not required to "sign up" here in order to scoot. But, we hope that all parents will create a fundraising page to ask their family, friends and colleagues for sponsorship for their child's scooting. Together with Hoopathon, we hope to surpass our goal of raising $30,000 for our school!
Required for scooting on May 2:
-A Scooter (you can borrow one from the school)
-A Helmet
-A Wristband with Guardian's Cell Number (sent home with your student on Friday before)
Happy Scooting!
Hoopathon:
We're excited for the First Ever BWS Hoopathon, under the umbrella of Scootathon fundraising (because BWS middle schoolers are more excited about basketball than they are about kick-scooting.)
Hoopathon will take place on Friday, April 24, a school day, and continue until the morning of Saturday, April 25. ALL MIDDLE SCHOOLERS ARE WELCOME TO REGISTER, either to play basketball or to volunteer in another capacity.
To participate, each student (6th, 7th and 8th) must register here by March 27th. Using this roster, Coach Bell will create up to 8 TEAMS, and schedule play between these teams, beginning at noon on April 24 and continueing into the night. A Canteen-style dinner will be available, for $8, a throw-back BWS tradition many will remember! There will be a scheduled period of QUIET TIME for sleep, and a bagel breakfast will be provided on Saturday morning, before pick-up of your middle school athlete at 8 AM. (Parents, please sign-up here to help)
General Scehdule
April 24: School begins at the normal time.
NOON, Hooptathon play begins and continues during school day and beyond.
6:30 PM, Parents/ Spectators Welcome. Canteen Dinner avaialable for purchase.
7:00 PM FREETHROW COMPETITION - Every student given 30 shots to see how many they can make. Open to fans.
9:00 PM All adults except chaperons/team managers to leave; it's NIGHT AT CLAVER CASTLE, just for middle schoolers.
April 25:
7:00 AM Breakfast Provided.
8:00 AM Come get your middle schooler.
Requried for Hoopathon:
-Registration on this platform (Fundraising page not required, but suggested)
-Bring lunch April 24, as per usual
-Bring $8 in cash for canteen dinner (or bring dinner)
-Bring sleeping bag, pajamas & overnight toiletries
-Hooptathon T-shirt will be provided to each participant, for wear during play. This is different than the annual Scootathon t-shirt that we hope you will still purchase.
-Bagels provided for breakfast on Saturday, April 25.
-NO SMARTPHONES ALLOWED; this will be a phone-free event.
Parents: Please SIGN UP here to volunteer for the event (We need you).
HAPPY HOOPATHON!
$0
Raised of $30,000
Contact Form
If you have any questions about this race, click the button below.
Event Location
Prospect Park Nethermead
Brooklyn, NY 11238 US
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A Little BackStory
Scootathon
Scootathon, founded by BWS parents Shoshanna Perry and Noel Wiggins, has been a beloved Brooklyn Waldorf tradition since 2009, when it became a successful fundraiser for the new school bringing Waldorf education to Brooklyn. In the early years, parents, teachers and middle-schoolers would earn sponsorship dollars for kick-scooting 6 laps of the "Big Loop", 3/4 of the main park drive around Prospect Park, for up to 13 miles (a half-marathon!). A quirky tradition was born.
For logistical reasons, in 2015, Scootathon and May Fair were joined together for a two-part community celebration in Prospect Park. Adults and older kids continued to scoot the "Big Loop", but over the years, it became more challenging to ask people to leave their families and the May Fair festivities for long laps away from the Nethermead. And, in the larger world of the city, the quirky kick-scooter was losing popularity with adults who now had access to widely-available electric scooters. Fewer grown-ups in the BWS community were kick-scooting to school with their kids...
But the little kids weren't losing any enthusiasm for scooting! As the "Big Loop" faded, children began to embrace scooting the "Mini Loop" at Scootathon (a shorter route that encircles the Nethermead) more than ever. Instead of scooting laps themselves, parents started asking for sponsorships for their children scooting the mini-loop. A quirky tradition grows with the times.
Hoopathon
Coach Finley Bell, with colleagues Coach Teddy Holtby and Coach Steven Simonak, has helped build a basketball program at BWS that shines bright with talent and enthusiam.
The idea of a 24-hour, sleepover basketball fundraiser event for middle schoolers has been brewing for some time, modeled on a similar event Coach Bell was part of back home in the U.K. Scooting as a physical endeavor is not as exciting to BWS middle schoolers as basketball is, so it seemed natural to meet them where they are with a new component of Scootathon, called (of course) - HOOPATHON!
This is Coach Bell's last year at BWS, as he and his growning family will be going back across the pond, so this is the year to make this event happen. It's now or never for HOOPATHON, a swan song for Coach Bell!
We're excited to create this fun experience together for our fantastic Milddle Schoolers, and we hope that parents will embrace fundraising for this quirky new event, just as they have all these years for Scootathon.
