School Spirit

The first good sign was the parking. There wasn't any. I pulled up to Avila's El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant in Costa Mesa on Nov. 17 and could barely get into the lot. So I parked a couple of blocks away. The minor inconvenience was a sign of a healthy crowd, I thought to myself, as I walked toward the Estancia High Football fundraiser sponsored by the Daily Pilot, Los Angeles Times and Estancia boosters. There were streamers, cheerleaders, banners and a crowd packed as tight as any huddle at the door, on the patio and in the foyer.

Erica Shen Twenty-two years ago, parents of the Newport Mesa Unified School District organized a race to raise funds for the district's elementary schools. The Blue Cross of California Spirit Run has evolved into one of the largest races in Orange County, attracting runners from all over Southern California. "The event has attracted Olympians and many of the top club athletes from L.A., Orange and San Diego [counties] over the past 22 years," race director Kathy Kinane said.

Eastbluff Elementary School fifth-grader Jordan Hauser, 11, has run in the annual Spirit Run each year since he was in the first grade. “Everyone at school talks about it, and if it’s their first year, we tell them about how much fun it is,” Jordan said, who ran the 5K at last year’s run in 22 minutes and 50 seconds. “It’s a fun thing, not really an intense competition,” Jordan said. Children from across Newport Beach and Costa Mesa will put on their running shoes Sunday to raise money for Newport-Mesa schools at the 26th annual Sprit Run. This year’s run also will feature a one-mile walk for grandparents and a 15-kilometer event for adults, where participants will run both a 10K and a 5K race.

COSTA MESA — When College Park Elementary School students return to class today, their campus will be a little more colorful — and it may get more so over the coming weeks. Parent Lori Robnett and teacher Allison Loftis started a push last week to beautify College Park, lugging brushes and paint cans to the central Costa Mesa campus. On Thursday, they neared completion of their first project: a mural of the American flag, painted in the spot where the school holds its morning flag deck assemblies.

She stands in the gym at Costa Mesa High School, wearing her new varsity letterman’s jacket. It was a small award given to her for a monumental achievement: becoming the California State Cheer Coach of the Year. Of the some 1,200 high schools across the Golden State, Koreen Johnson took the honors over the weekend, earning the bigger award that goes with it: a free trip to Hawaii for two in February next year, where the Aloha Spirit Cheerleading Championship will take place.

Adults and children will be running around Fashion Island Sunday, and the reason doesn’t have anything to do with great bargains or retail sales. Celebrating 25 years of community involvement in health and fitness, Newport-Mesa’s five elementary schools will once again sponsor the Spirit Run, featuring an adult 5K and 10K, seven one-fourth- to 1-mile races for children, and new this year, a competitive Youth 5K for ages 14 and under. Andersen, Eastbluff, Harbor View, Lincoln and Newport Coast elementary schools have raised more than $1 million for educational programs in the Newport-Mesa area over the years.

They got a letter from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who wrote “Go Mustangs!” They went to Disney World in Orlando, Fla. They were featured in American Cheerleader magazine. The accolades seem endless for the Costa Mesa High School Cheerleading squad, which won this year’s nationally recognized American School Spirit Award. Hundreds of high schools applied for the award, and out of the 10 finalists, the Costa Mesa squad emerged victorious. But it wasn’t their cheering abilities that earned them the No. 1 ranking as far as school spirit is concerned; it was about the endless hours of community service and a combined 3.48 grade-point average; and how they conducted themselves inside and outside the classroom.

1. Murals galore. Nine mosaic murals painted by Newport Beach painter and illustrator Mia Tavanotti will be unveiled at 1 p.m. Saturday at Newport Elementary School, 1327 W. Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach. (949) 723-4757. 2. Show school spirit! Newport Harbor High School faces off with La Mirada at 7 p.m. Saturday at Newport Harbor, 600 Irvine Ave., Newport Beach. (949) 515-6308. 3. Walk with the Christmas spirit. The Corona del Mar Christmas Walk will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday on Pacific Coast Highway and in the Corona del Mar Plaza, 832 Avocado Ave. The event will include entertainment, refreshments, a petting zoo and roving carolers.