George Washington Elementary School student Kaitlyn Lawson's Healthy Living Art Contest entry.

BRIAN STURDIVANT

Students from George Washington Elementary School have joined University President Jay A. Perman, MD, in his fight against childhood obesity.

Fifth-graders from the school, which is near the University, participated recently in the Healthy Living Art Contest sponsored by the President’s Outreach Council. The students designed artwork depicting children performing healthy activities—one of the creations will be chosen to appear on materials that will be distributed at the statewide Summit on Childhood Obesity in November. Other winning entrants in the contest will receive Ravens T-shirts.  

Also, instructors from University Recreation and Fitness (URecFit) are leading Zumba exercise activities at George Washington Elementary as part of CLUB UMD, a program for schoolchildren and an initiative of the President’s Outreach Council. The children will perform a Zumba routine during the childhood obesity summit, which is sponsored by the University in partnership with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

“The exercise combines Latin and hip-hop rhythms with easy-to-follow dance steps that really get the heart rate up,” says Jenny Owens, assistant director of fitness in URecFit. “It’s awesome to have instructors who are not only excited about what they do but who are also passionate about giving back to the community.”

Aaron Burgess, Jordan Collins, and Tisha Guthrie are conducting the Zumba instruction at the summit.