Students and staff at Dr. Brass School in Yorkton are undertaking a new fitness initiative this year. "We're going to having lots of fun. We're going to be doing a lot of fitness and we're going to have some fabulous food at our school," says Dr. Brass principal Tammy Hall.
The focus for the year will be fitness and health, Hall reports. "We think healthy bodies will help us have healthy minds. Healthy minds are going to help us learn better," she declares.
Fitness can be lots of fun and can be accomplished without a lot of equipment, Hall proposes. Eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive, she asserts. As part of the overall fitness strategy parent community kitchens will produce healthy meals to teach how to offer nutritious, healthy meals at a reasonable cost, Hall reports.
As part of the official opening of the fitness program at Dr. Brass School zumba fitness instructor Tricia Shyiak led students, staff and guests through a zumba demonstration.
Zumba is a dance exercise program set to latin music, Shyiak explains. "We do throw in some american music to keep things upbeat but basically it's dance, making exercise fun," she elaborates.
While zumba has been around for some time, it's only come to Canada recently. "It's been around for about 12 to 15 years but it's just started to become big in the last few years," Shyiak continues.
It's a cardio workout which uses lots of different muscles that aren't normally used. "You're smiling at the beginning and you're smiling at the end," she states.
Zumba classes are offered at Forever Fit by two instructors. Classes, which started last week, are offered Monday and Wednesday mornings at 6 a.m. and at 8 p.m., as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Anyone who'd like to join the zumba sessions should contact Forever Fit at 782-7770.
Classes cost $99 for six weeks twice a week, Shyiak closes.
A Canadian Olympian was at Dr. Brass school to kickoff the school's new fitness initiative. Pole vaulter Kelsey Hendry, a former gymnast became involved in the sport near the end of her high school attendance. Following her membership on the high school track team, Hendry tried out for the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) Huskie track team. She became a member of the U of S team for five years and later joined the Canadian national team which eventually led her to the summer olympics in Bejing, China in 2008.
Along the way Hendry set a Canadian national indoor and outdoor record as well claiming many national and international medals as in the pole vault, including a bronze medal at the commonwealth games in India and a gold at the Franco-phone games.
The pole vault is a speed and power event, Hendry explains. Training for pole vault involves a lot of sprints and speed work as well as upper body workouts like weight training. It also requires gymnastics training which fits in well with her sports background.
Hendry encourages youngsters to become active, find some activity they enjoy and to make a commitment to it. "Try to lead a healthy lifestyle so that they can feel good about themselves and be successful in whatever they decide to pursue," she adds.
She is able to share her message with youngsters because RBC brings her in as an ambassador. "They've been a big part of my livelihood as an athlete and being able to travel around Saskatchewan to share this message and also to travel around the world to compete in the sport I love," Hendry explains.
She is currently preparing for the London summer olympics next year. "I hope I'm in that olympic final in August next year," she says.
Hendry says she enjoys coming to Yorkton which has supported her and to see all the new initiatives which are taking place in the community.
