It Was All About Fitness...
Mark Jenkins is a 39-year-old Navy veteran who fought in the first Gulf War. He has served as a personal trainer to such stars as Puff Daddy and Mary J. Blige. You can tell from 100 feet away that he’s in better shape than you are—or ever will be.
But he almost met his match on Wednesday—first from a dozen students at Neval Thomas Elementary School in Northeast Washington, then from 45 staff members of UWNCA.
It was all about fitness, the desire to achieve it and the work that it takes to get there. After leading the students through a 30-minute series of exercises, and the adults through 20 minutes more, Jenkins had this to say:“They can all be in better shape. But they all had the right attitude.”
Instilling fitness via a positive approach is the centerpiece of a UWNCA program that will be rolled out around the region in the first five months of 2010.
Called Fun, Fly and Fit, the program has been under construction for the last nine months, under the leadership of UWNCA’s Euniesha Davis. FFF will be introduced into 11 area schools between January and May. It may eventually grow to 100 schools and extend to workplaces, Euniesha said. FFF is a major UWNCA priority, according to CEO Bill Hanbury.
Wednesday’s kickoff event featured huffs, puffs and (among the adults) grimaces but, it also featured determination.
“We all have work to do. We could all be more fit, including this guy,” said Hanbury, as he pointed at himself. “But we’re all trying to be committed to it.”
Thomas students weren’t quite ready to make such a promise. But they were intrigued.
When Jenkins demonstrated a drill where students hopped from circle to circle while pushing a ball in front of them, the kids elbowed each other out of the way to be first in line. When he gave them red jump ropes and demonstrated, they followed with a smile. When he told them to feel their biceps while jogging in place, the kids did so—and they looked pleased at the power they found.
“We have some children who are having a problem (with weight control and fitness),” said Ruth Barnes, Thomas’s principal. “But we are working with nutrition,” she said. FFF will be “welcome at the school,” she said.
Mark Jenkins did not baby the casually clad adults from UWNCA. No sooner had they taken their places around the linoleum floor of the Thomas auditorium than Jenkins asked:
“Whose first workout is this in the last two months?”
Several sets of eyes fell sheepishly to the floor but, there were few dropouts as Jenkins led the group through a regimen of bending, stooping, squatting, swaying, stretching and throwing mock punches.
“You’ve got to find a way to get the workouts in, people,” he said. No one promised, but no one disagreed, either. Jenkins told the group that 30 minutes of exercise a day, five times a week, will add a year to one’s life, and reduce the chances of cardiovascular disease by 50 percent. That drew nods and murmured vows.
It was just one nice autumn day in Northeast Washington. But for UWNCA’s staff, it may have been the start of a whole new lifestyle.
But he almost met his match on Wednesday—first from a dozen students at Neval Thomas Elementary School in Northeast Washington, then from 45 staff members of UWNCA.
It was all about fitness, the desire to achieve it and the work that it takes to get there. After leading the students through a 30-minute series of exercises, and the adults through 20 minutes more, Jenkins had this to say:“They can all be in better shape. But they all had the right attitude.”
Instilling fitness via a positive approach is the centerpiece of a UWNCA program that will be rolled out around the region in the first five months of 2010.
Called Fun, Fly and Fit, the program has been under construction for the last nine months, under the leadership of UWNCA’s Euniesha Davis. FFF will be introduced into 11 area schools between January and May. It may eventually grow to 100 schools and extend to workplaces, Euniesha said. FFF is a major UWNCA priority, according to CEO Bill Hanbury.
Wednesday’s kickoff event featured huffs, puffs and (among the adults) grimaces but, it also featured determination.
“We all have work to do. We could all be more fit, including this guy,” said Hanbury, as he pointed at himself. “But we’re all trying to be committed to it.”
Thomas students weren’t quite ready to make such a promise. But they were intrigued.
When Jenkins demonstrated a drill where students hopped from circle to circle while pushing a ball in front of them, the kids elbowed each other out of the way to be first in line. When he gave them red jump ropes and demonstrated, they followed with a smile. When he told them to feel their biceps while jogging in place, the kids did so—and they looked pleased at the power they found.
“We have some children who are having a problem (with weight control and fitness),” said Ruth Barnes, Thomas’s principal. “But we are working with nutrition,” she said. FFF will be “welcome at the school,” she said.
Mark Jenkins did not baby the casually clad adults from UWNCA. No sooner had they taken their places around the linoleum floor of the Thomas auditorium than Jenkins asked:
“Whose first workout is this in the last two months?”
Several sets of eyes fell sheepishly to the floor but, there were few dropouts as Jenkins led the group through a regimen of bending, stooping, squatting, swaying, stretching and throwing mock punches.
“You’ve got to find a way to get the workouts in, people,” he said. No one promised, but no one disagreed, either. Jenkins told the group that 30 minutes of exercise a day, five times a week, will add a year to one’s life, and reduce the chances of cardiovascular disease by 50 percent. That drew nods and murmured vows.
It was just one nice autumn day in Northeast Washington. But for UWNCA’s staff, it may have been the start of a whole new lifestyle.
posted by Bob Levey's United Way at
1:58 PM
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