Thursday, November 15, 2012
University students sponsor event to promote physical fitness
PRINCESS ANNE, MD – (Nov. 16, 2012) – Students from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore held a Fun Fitness Challenge today at neighboring Greenwood Elementary School to show youngsters how being active can be both fun and healthy. The school’s fifth graders participated.
The event was spearheaded by UMES’ Honda Campus All-Star Challenge Academic Quiz Bowl Club in cooperation with Somerset County public schools. They enlisted the help of other students in UMES’ departments of exercise science and human ecology, the Student Government Association and the university’s Health and Wellness Center, said the academic team’s advisor, Dr. James White Jr.
“Even the UMES mascot, Harry the Hawk, joined in the fun,” White said.
“Fun Fitness Challenge features fitness activities and nutritional information designed to get the school’s youth moving and practicing healthy habits,” he said.
UMES students demonstrated activities like doing jumping jacks, skipping rope and using a hula hoop as healthy activities that can help their elementary counterparts be fit. As Greenwood students went through a series of exercise drills, the UMES contingent cheered and clapped and in some instances, did activities like push-ups and crab-walking alongside their hosts.
UMES’ Quiz Bowl Club is taking on the event as a community service project – a requirement for qualifying for the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge college tournament.
White, the father of eight children, appeared as a studio guest on WMDT’s early morning news show Friday to talk about the joint project between the university and the Somerset County public school system.
The tournament, sponsored by Honda Motor America, is the first-ever academic competition between students at America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The event is in its 25th year. Nearly 100,000 students have demonstrated their intellect and fast recall and have earned over $7 million in grants from Honda for their institutions.
###
Gail Stephens, assistant director, UMES Office of Public Relations, 410-651-7580, gcstephens@umes.edu.
