Metuchen High School is once again transforming its sprawling campus into a massive obstacle course for its third annual Proving Ground Team Building Challenge, which promises to be bigger and better than the previous years’ events.
Proceeds from the Aug. 17 mud run, featuring nearly 40 mentally and physically challenging stations designed to promote teamwork and leadership, will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, a tax-exempt nonprofit helping pediatric patients and children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
More than 200 students are expected to participate in the mud run, which is unique among Central Jersey high schools as Metuchen is the only area high school to host such an event.
A leadership training speaker series, featuring community leaders, will be held throughout the 2019-20 academic year to augment the team building challenge.
Proving Ground participants and their parents will gather at the Metuchen Municipal Pool on the eve of the mud run for a pre-event meeting and meal, at which time students will receive a pep talk and final instructions before embarking upon the taxing obstacle course. Jersey Mike’s Subs of Metuchen will provide food for the meeting.
Student-athletes who participate in the event — either as a competitor or volunteer — will receive credit toward one team sports practice. Spectators will be allowed to follow participants as they compete on the obstacle course.
Metuchen athletics director John Cathcart and Metuchen certified athletics trainer Michelle McCorkle, who have both participated in mud runs, designed the obstacle course with the intent of promoting cooperation, innovative thinking and prudent risk-taking.
READ: A story about the inaugural Proving Ground Team Building Challenge
This year’s course will vastly differ from that which competitors navigated in previous summers, with some elements of the last two events being brought back for a third run and several new obstacles being added.
“It’s grown so quickly,” Cathcart said about the event, “and it’s almost to the point now where I never thought it would get this big. So many people have gotten involved with this. I’m glad we did it and I’m glad it has continued and gotten bigger all the time.”
Cathcart and McCorkle watched videos, read literature and engaged in extensive conversation with others about the leadership and teamwork component of mud run challenges to customize a course that targets the needs of Metuchen students.
“The genesis of this event falls in line with what we want the kids to do,” McCorkle said. “They will confront obstacles and challenges they’ve never seen before and figure out how to solve problems. A lot of these obstacles are going to be more mentally intimidating than physically challenging. Some obstacles focus on strategy rather than strength. Any strength coach or trainer at the gym can make you work so hard you feel horrible. That’s not what we are after. We don’t want you to just be physically depleted. We want the teamwork, we want the strategy and we want the leadership. Sometimes you have to scale back on the physical exertion to let some of those things shine a little brighter.”
Competitors will be divided into teams of eight to 10 members — each with a captain — who must work in concert to scale walls, navigate mud pits, jumps and other obstacles.
VIEW: A gallery of photographs from the 2017 event
“If we are going to create teamwork and challenge them to overcome adversity, we are going to have to throw something at them that is outside of their comfort zone and makes them think and work together,” said Cathcart, noting each challenging obstacle is designed with safety in mind and that the Metuchen Fire Department, Metuchen Police Department and Metuchen First Aid Squad will be on hand at the event.
“We want (the students) to work as a team so that they can overcome any obstacle. By themselves, they are not going to beat this course. If it’s too tough and you are going to stop, then what have you learned, where have you gotten and what are you going do with yourself (in the future)?”
Sponsors for the event include Metuchen Savings Bank (a division of Manasquan Bank), Metuchen Board of Education, Metuchen High School PTO, Metuchen High School Booster Club, Hronich & Company, The Hausser Family, John Gazda, Jersey Mike’s, Natural Green and Jan Margolis: Applied Research Corp. and Halecon.
A silent auction, featuring more than a dozen items business and individuals inside and outside the borough donated, will be held at the Aug. 16 pre-event meeting.
Participants will wear specially designed T-shirts in the school’s official colors of blue and white bearing an inspirational message on the back that reads: “Do not aspire to be the best on the team. Aspire to be the best for the team.”
Upon completing the obstacle course, participants will also receive a commemorative medal, a keepsake to remind them that they worked together for a greater cause.
McCorkle, who called the high school and the borough a “family,” said she wants Metuchen’s participating students to learn about the importance of community involvement and giving back to the community.
VIEW: A gallery of photographs from the 2018 event
Since its inception, the Proving Ground Team Building Challenge has raised more than $2,000 for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which was established two years ago in loving memory of its namesake.
Marisa, who would have been entering her junior year at Edison High School, was born with a complex cardiac defect that required six open-heart surgeries. Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, she lived a vibrant life that inspired. After her sixth surgery, Marisa developed two life-threatening conditions that necessitated a heart transplant. A postoperative complication developed into a rare form of cancer that riddled her brain and body. Marisa succumbed to her illness following a valiant battle on Jan. 30, 2017. She was just 13 years old.
Marisa is the daughter of Home News Tribune sports writer Greg Tufaro and Edison Township Public Schools educator Cyndi Tufaro, who will address Metuchen students and their parents on the eve of the Proving Ground event, thanking the school-community for its involvement and providing what they hope will be an inspirational message.
Marisa’s paternal grandparents, Joseph and Marie, are Metuchen High School graduates. In the weeks before Marisa received her heart transplant, she spent time with Metuchen principal Bruce Peragallo, who gave her a tour of the high school.
“The object is for (the event) to be a metaphor for life,” McCorkle said. “We want them to learn these lessons on the field and then parlay them into adulthood and retain what we’ve taught them. How can we take what we are offering and give back to the community? How can we involve the surrounding community and be a force for good outside of ourselves?”
WATCH: Video highlights of the 2017 Proving Ground Team Building Challenge
The Proving Ground is considered a mud run, but Cathcart and McCorkle have emphasized to students that the event is not a race.
“You’re not trying to beat anybody but yourself,” Cathcart said. “We expect our kids to get out and be leaders. We’re creating a lifelong idea that you can overcome obstacles, either with a team, or by yourself.”
Following are some of the ways The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which commemorated its second anniversary on July 30 with an announcement that it has already donated more than $100,000, has made a profound impact on children in need.
Conducted a boardwalk-themed Family Fun Night for consecutive years at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital, where the sights, sounds and smells of the Jersey Shore were brought to patients and their families through carnival games, food, prizes, music and more.
Provided money for equipment and supplies for students with disabilities who utilize the Lakeview School’s newly constructed aquatics center.
Partially funded the Make-A-Wish of a Middlesex County girl who was born with a complex cardiac defect to vacation with her family at Walt Disney World.
Made a donation in honor of Piscataway’s Conackamack Middle School, which honored Marisa during its 27th annual Turkey Trot, to the township’s FISH Hospitality Program, which provides shelter, meals, clothing and other services to homeless families in Middlesex County.