(CNN) — A year into his tenure as superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district, former Olympian Ian Roberts made headlines when – in a maroon three-piece suit, candy cane striped bow tie and matching Nike Air Force 1 sneakers – he ran a 100-meter dash against some of his elementary school students.

An 11-year-old crossed the finish line a few steps ahead of Roberts, who represented Guyana in the 800 meters in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, CNN affiliate KCCI reported .

It was a small but unforgettable lesson.

“I raced an Olympian,” fifth grader Amayah Vilmael, a student athlete whose parents are from Nigeria and Haiti, said after the May 2024 race, according to KCCI. “I’m going to keep that in my mind forever.”

Roberts said, “The work we do is so much more than reading,

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