kids and exercise

Make sure your kids have a strong phys ed program at school and good examples to follow at home.

Most kids would be happy to inject more movement into their school days.

RODALE NEWS, WASHINGTON, DC—Michelle Obama was at her sharpest and funniest last week when she flexed her muscles with the students at what may the smallest public school in Washington, DC.

And it's no question that River Terrace Elementary School, with less than 200 students, in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, is the most spirited.

THE DETAILS: Promoting the exercise component of Let’s Move on April 21, with two Olympians and two Paralympians to help share the message, the first lady participated with the children in their daily "JAMmin' Minute." It's an exercise sequence the kids do during classes to shake out all the kinks and get the blood flowing. And while they’re at it, they learn a little geography, this time about California. In the course of their exercises, the students jogged across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Pacific Ocean where they did the backstroke and surfed, climbed up a redwood tree, and flexed their muscles like governor Arnold Schwartzenagger. And the first lady, known for her hula-hooping exploits, had no problem keeping up.

Credit the school’s dynamic principal, Sharon Foster, who refers to the children as “my babies,” for the spirit and ingenuity of the program. When Foster met First Lady Michelle Obama at an earlier childhood-obesity initiative event in nearby Virginia, she convinced her that she had to visit.

At Wednesday's event, Foster introduced the JAMmin' Minute performance to the first lady, and the following exchange took place, punctuated by much laughter:

Foster: "First lady, Mrs. Obama, in the back of the room we have our nurse and we have our office staff…"

Mrs. Obama: "What, you think we need a nurse? What’s going on with the “JAMmin' Minute” that we need medical assistance?"

Then the Olympians and Paralympians told their moving stories about perseverance, hard work, and disappointment. Speakers included Shani Davis, the Olympic gold medalist speed skater who, like the Energizer Bunny, must have been in perpetual motion as a small child. When he told the children that his mother made him run a mile before he went to kindergarten each morning, Mrs. Obama hypothesized that she did it so he'd fall asleep at night.