Karen O'Connor and Joann Tippie, both of Chantilly's Brookfield community, participated June 1 in the Susan G. Komen 5K Run/Walk Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C. They're both instructional assistants at Greenbriar West Elementary, and also participating from the school was Barbara Rosen, a 4th/5th-grade GT teacher.
It was the first time O'Connor and Tippie took part in this event, but they had special reasons for doing so. "Both of us have friends who had to deal with cancer in the past year, so we walked for them," said O'Connor. "It was hot, but wonderful, and we met a lot of nice, friendly people."
She said it wasn't a difficult walk, but it took them 1 hour, 40 minutes because of the large crowd — some 94,000 people. Said O'Connor: "It was nice to see how many people were supporting the cause, because cancer is something we need to get rid of."
Walking along with her and Tippie were two of O'Connor's friends from Allegheny College who came to D.C. just for the walk, so they enjoyed a reunion at the same time. O'Connor said she and Tippie plan to do the walk again next year, but hope to get more of their colleagues from GBW to join them under a school banner.