Fitness, food and fun is the name of the game for the new kids' fitness program for West Prairie students offered as a collaborative effort between the YMCA of McDonough County's and Memorial Hospital's Colchester Clinic.
West Prairie South Elementary students in grades K-6, including those who are in Y's After School Program at West Prairie, will have the opportunity to learn how to make – and enjoy – a healthy snack through a teaching kitchen, followed by physical activity. The program will be led by Katie Ruebush, Memorial Medical physical therapist, along with two interns from Western Illinois University and a physical therapy student who is completing clinicals at Memorial.
According to Ruebush, who led the West Prairie Kids Run the Nation program last summer, programs such as this are preventative medicine.
'We want to teach kids that living a healthy lifestyle can be fun and can make us feel better. We know that through diet and exercise, we can prevent so many diseases, but also improve performance in the classroom,' Ruebush explained.
'Additionally, we'd like our participants to go home and share these recipes and activities with their families and spark conversations and small changes even at home.'
As Colchester lacks immediate access to fresh produce, the program is also an attempt to improve this issue in the community's elementary school, she added. This concern was also addressed by the Giving Gardens, who established a community garden in Colchester last year.
The pilot project will begin next month and run through the remainder of the school year, but Ruebush hopes that funding will be secured to continue the program year-round. Donations can be made to Memorial Hospital Foundation (note Youth Wellness Initiative).
Visit mhtlc.org/foundation/ donate to learn more.
Nick Knowles, CEO of the YMCA of McDonough County, said this is the first collaborative effort between the county's Y's After School Program and a health clinic/ hospital. Tanner Lewis, the Y's intern, will be incorporating a 30-minute physical fitness program on Friday afternoons as part of the program.
'When Katie approached me with this idea, I was all for it,' Knowles added.
'We're always excited to partner with other agencies and organizations to further improve our programs, along with the health of area residents of all ages.
We'd love to see this expand into other school districts where we provide afterschool programming. We're so happy to partner with Memorial Hospital on this new endeavor.'
To register for the Kids Run the Nation at West Prairie, visit tinyurl.com/ YMCAMHFitness26.
