Piles of fun: Juneau students partake in annual leaf jump
Published 10:30 pm Monday, November 7, 2022
Fall is here and Juneau students are jumping in on the fun.
Molly Barnes’ KinderReady Preschool Program class from Harborview Elementary made its way down to Evergreen Cemetery Tuesday morning to partake in the annual student leaf jump organized by retired teacher Linda Torgerson. Classes from the Juneau district ranging from preschool up to fourth grade rotated throughout Monday and Tuesday during school hours to give their students time to dive in on the fun.
Each student got their chance to charge the pile in a full-force sprint before cannonballing into the leaves.
The mound of leaves was composed of around 50 garbage bags of leaves collected by teachers, parents and students from across Juneau who spent the last few weeks gathering leaves and drying them out in preparation for the fun at the cemetery.
“It’s quite the labor of love,” Torgerson said.
Torgerson said she started the leaf jump event around 25 years ago when she was a teacher at Juneau Cooperative Preschool. She said over the years the location has changed many times before landing at the Evergreen Cemetery for the past decade, and more and more people have gotten involved. She said she hopes to have this tradition continue and bring joy to the students and the rest of the community.
“It’s just so much fun,” she said.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
