Body Walk in Itawamba County: Fulton February 22, 2010

The end of the third week of February, Body Walk was in Fulton MS, at the Itawamba Attendance Center. Here we saw third and fourth grade students from five schools: Itawamba Attendance Center, Dorsey, Mantachie, Fairview, and Tremont. Ramona Edge, Marie Rogers, and Amy Riley made sure everything was planned out and ran smoothly.

On Friday, nursing students from ICC’s RN and LPN programs came to help. They volunteered to be presenters, entertainers, and walkers. They also helped with the take down of the exhibit. They were wonderful help and all of them did a fantastic job.

Students must take off their shoes to tour the Body Walk. This is to ensure the longevity of the floors of the exhibit. Each county has a different way to store the shoes until they put them back on. In Itawamba, Marie taped off sections of the floor. One box per class. This was a great solution.

Taping boxes for shoes.

While many classes have 20+ students, only one group of 6-10 students enter at a time. Those students waiting for their turn to enter need an activity to occupy them. In some counties this is coloring, or watching an Organ Wise Guys DVD, or reading a book. Here, it was dancing. The activity keep the children entertained and demonstrated Body Walk’s lesson of get plenty of activity every day.

Nursing students led elementary students in dancing while waiting their turn to enter the Body Walk exhibit.

There are nine stations the children see as they travel through the body. In the heart station, they learn how big their heart is, and how much fat certain foods contain.

Look how much fat this yummy food contains.

In the bones, children learn that bones are the framework for the body. Also, you have to eat the right foods to build the framework, the right foods builds your body in the most healthy way possible.

Calcium builds strong bones.

One thing children learn in the muscle room is how many muscles are in the human body. Strong muscles are needed for running, swimming, and riding a bike.

Everyone needs strong healthy muscles.

When the children finish the nine stations, there is a review in the pathway of life. Here they get a chance to think about everything they just learned. Sometimes, the adults like to review what they have learned as well.

ICC Nursing Students

Overall, Body Walk had a great experience in Itawamba county.

Body Walk in Greene County: Leakesville

The third week of February has been one of traveling miles for Body Walk. The first part of the week found the exhibit in Leakesville MS, working with Marcia McLeod, 4-H and Chere Brown, FNP.  Here, Kindergarten, First, Second, Third and Fourth grade students toured the exhibit. Many of the children knew the station presenters, local VoTech high schoolers. The VoTech students were great. From helping the children line up their shoes, to leading them in ‘Simon Says’ (Simon Says cover your ears), to teaching the material and then finally walking each group back to put on their shoes-the High School volunteers did an excellent job.

Mural in the Leakesville Elementary Gym

Children entering the gym were greeted by this great mural on the wall. One of the key points Body Walk emphasizes is exercise. Here, Body Walk and the school presented the same message. Exercise is a key factor in good health, and feeling good.

Try flossing between the teeth.

Kids love going into the mouth. In addition to sitting on teeth seats, they get to move those seats and practice flossing. Younger children especially may still be learning how to floss, and having such a larger than life example shows them the proper way.

After touring Body Walk, each child received a sticker and Body Walk workbook. The workbook reviews the lessons learned inside the Body Walk. There are puzzles, coloring pages, and more. When asked if they had any questions as they left the gym, most children has only one. “When will you be back?”

Body Walk Perry County: Beaumont February 4, 2010

Body Walk’s latest stop was Beaumont Elementary in Perry County. Liz Sadler and Dawn Vosbein from Extension ensured a smooth operation. In Beaumont, kindergarten through fifth grade from New Augusta and Beaumont got to experience education disguised as fun. Nursing students were the presenters for each room and they really had a good time with the material, and teaching it to the students.

Ready to brush and floss

Our intestines can be 22 feet long

Building strong bones

Showing off their strong muscles

The children started off in the brain, and wound their way through each room, learning about important organs as they traveled. A few of the kindergarteners were scared of the brain room, or that the big teeth in the mouth room were going to eat them. Once reassured that there was nothing scary inside, they were ready to see everything. All the rest of the students were simply excited.

After they finished the tour, many of the students chatted about everything they had just seen. The mouth is an all time favorite but some of the kids thought the lungs or muscle rooms were pretty interesting as well. During the review, the kids called out answers to questions such as, “How many bones in the human body?”, or “How can you keep your heart healthy?”

Body Walk works because of teamwork, and it is a joy when the volunteers are enthusiastic. This trip was a joy.

Body Walk Hinds County: Jackson

In Hinds County, Body Walk set up at Wilkins Elementary, in Jackson. Here, many familiar associates were on hand to help.  From Extension, Rocheryl Ware, Doyle Banks, Marcus Davis, Barbara Randalls, Eugenia Smith, and Sheirley Middleton once again worked hard to make the Body Walk a success.

Setting a new record of get-everything-off-the-truck, were the JROTC from Winfield High School, Col. Wallace and Sgt. Mote. They were all great help. Working together, the exhibit was unloaded and set up efficiently and smoothly.

The real fun of Body Walk comes the next day, when the children come through. At Wilkins, the presenters in each room were parents, teachers’ assistants, and teachers. The more a presenter gets into the spirit of Body Walk, the more fun it is for everyone and these presenters had SPIRIT.

Supporting Body Walk with an organ shirt

A brain and bones-two essential parts of the human body

A big smile to go with a big toothbrush

A food necklace to show good food choices

In addition to these participants, in the heart, the women had a shirt that had a bright red happy heart on the front, and a brown sad heart on the back of their shirt. The sad brown heart ate poorly and didn’t exercise. In the lungs, the two volunteers had bright healthy lungs on the front of their shirts, and black smoke-filled lungs on the back, with a message saying, “Please don’t smoke.”

Body Walk is a team effort and the more the volunteers bring to the presentation, the more the children get out of it. The kindergarten up to fifth graders at this school got a lot out of Body Walk.