Event Description

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're adding a companion athletic fundraiser for middle schoolers this year, called Hoopathon, taking place on April 24 at Brooklyn Waldorf School.)

"The Mini Loop" is the small paved sidewalk path that encircles the Nethermead (but is not entirely visible from the lawn). This loop is reserved for children and students up to 5th grade, and scooting is the preferred vehicle. 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 donations for their child's scooting at Scootathon. Together, we hope to surpass our goal of raising $20,000 for our school!

A LIttle History
Scootathon, founded by parents, has been a beloved Brooklyn Waldorf tradition since 2009, when it became a successful fundraiser for the new little 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!). 

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 for 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.