A Shawano Area Fire Department captain went for a walk with more than 80 students Thursday at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Shawano.
Guest Chuck Felts and members of the school’s walking club took 1,300 steps — about three-fourths of a mile — together around the school’s track during recess.
Felts, an 18-year-veteran of the department, said walking is a good way to maintain good health.
“It is about maintaining the physical fitness. … Walking is a good physical activity,” Felts said. “It is pretty important to the kids, no matter what age. You still have to walk, as far as exercise.”
Physical fitness is an important part of being a firefighter, Felts told the students during his 30-minute visit.
Sacred Heart formed the walking club in October when the school joined the Transform Wisconsin program, a nonprofit effort to promote healthy communities by providing grants and funding for wellness programs.
Carrie Verkuilen, who invited Felts to be a guest walker, helped get the school involved in the statewide effort.
Verkuilen said the addition of guest walkers motivates children to remain fit and active even during the school day.
“It helps keep the kids engaged and excited about exercise,” she said. “We just get different people involved.”
Previous guest walkers have included the Shawano Police Department mascot, Eddie the Eagle; the Shawano Community High School cheerleading squad; and representatives of area businesses.
The Transform Wisconsin initiative challenged all students to walk a minimum of 20 minutes per day, with 2,000 steps as a benchmark.
“Some kids go well beyond that if they get to school right at 7:30 in the morning,” said Carolyn Reuter, acting principal while Principal Elisha Wagenson is on maternity leave. “The students walk every morning and after lunch time every day, with their pedometers on to track their steps.”
Reuter said the school offers rewards for the top walker in each grade level every month.
“They are surpassing their goal every month,” she said. “The top walker who has the most steps from each grade gets to eat lunch with Father Luke Ferris,” the parish’s pastor.
Sacred Heart staff member Jeannie Boyd tracks the students’ mileage and determines how far they’ve gone as if they were walking across the United States. As of Thursday, the students had collectively walked from Shawano to Philadelphia.
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