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Hernando Today

Learning on the run

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By JEFF SCHMUCKER

Hernando Today

Published: October 21, 2009

SPRING HILL - It's not every day that Jocelyn Cresong climbs Mount Everest, dodges snowballs, or gets chased by a snow leopard, just on Tuesday.

Every other day this week, the 5-year-old and the rest of her classmates from J.D. Floyd K-8 School of Environmental Science will go on a similar mountain climbing expedition - in the safety of their own classrooms.

Running in place, jumping and mimicking climbing along with other feats is all part of a program called Adventure to Fitness - an education and fundraising program designed to promote physical activity for 10 minutes a day while also teaching geography, nutrition, history and math.

Similar to television show Dora the Explorer, the television program features "Mr. Marc" going on an adventure to climb Mt. Everest. Along the way, he encounters perils and asked students questions.

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade at J.D. Floyd then can participate in their classrooms throughout the day. The program plays in a continuous loop on the televisions, giving teachers a chance to work the program in on their own time.

Allyson Truman, a kindergarten teacher at the school, said the program is great to help break up the day and keep her pupils active while also educating them at the same time.

"It's really interactive," Truman said. "This gives them a chance to travel and see things that they wouldn't normally see."

Following their workout, students then use pedometers to record the number of steps they took, help add them and record them each day to see whether they increased or decreased their steps. On Tuesday, kindergarteners did 3,311 steps while, school-wide, students step on average more than one million times.

Micheline Gray, Parent Teacher Association program chairman, said the program is also a good alternative fundraiser. Students are asked to find sponsors for $5 each to help fundraise with all proceeds going to the PTA.

"This way, we're not selling anything," Gray said. "And these kids don't have to go door-to-door. There's a Web site they can create on their own with parents asking for sponsors."

Each pupil then can earn a medal - bronze for five sponsors, silver for 10 and gold for 20.

J.D. Floyd is the first school district in Hernando County to use the Adventure to Fitness program. Gray said she doesn't know how much funding to expect from the program, but said other schools have recorded as much as $20,000.

Meanwhile, Gray said Friday completes the fundraising program and that money will be collected the following week. So far, she said she hopes to do the program again next year.

For more information, go to www.adventuretofitness.com.

Reporter Jeff Schmucker can be reached at 352-544-5271 or jschmucker@hernandotoday.com.

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