Hallowell Students “Walk This Way” Toward Healthy Living

Students at Hallowell Elementary School stretched their legs for a valuable lesson on healthy living.

The school, located at at 501 West Moreland Ave. in Horsham, held its annual health promotional event, “Walk This Way,” Thursday, Oct. 5, which encourages exercise, healthy eating and good lifestyle decisions.

Students “walked the talk” in an early morning one-mile hike with Hallowell staff and learned lessons about healthy living along the way.

““The students are being engaged in the importance of building healthy habits,”said Principal Steve Glaize. “Every year that we do it, you see that there are more and more people that are connected to the event in way that they maybe hadn’t been in the first or second year. We’re trying to look at different ways of engaging our students in the importance of building healthy habits in safety and what that looks like and really building a sense of community.”

Among the many stops on the walk included a visit to the Sansoni’s Farm Market station for a healthy snack. There students interacted with informational signs prepared by the Montgomery County Health Department that turned learning to make healthy choices into a fun activity.

Other learning stations students visited along their walk included stops with Montgomery Health Department representatives, where they learned about bike, skateboard, rollerblade, scooter and other forms of transportation safety; a fitness station for Crossfit and aerobic exercises station; an obstacle course designed by volunteers from the YMCA; the Horsham Township Highway and Streets Department and Horsham Police Department, where they interacted with the K-9 and bicycle units; and a Horsham Athletic Club station where a trainer helped them get the heart pumping through jumping jacks and other exercise routines.

Glaize said often the work of many important community organizations, like the Horsham Police Department, or the Horsham Township Highway and Streets Department, can go overlooked by the community.

“I think it’s important for our young people especially to understand how valuable these individuals are in our community,” he said, “and to really build an appreciation for their work.”

“Kids don’t even think about it,” he continued, “Until they see the equipment, it’s like ‘wow, there’s a lot of things that are being done in my community by members of my community.’ And I think that’s really been a neat outcrop of this. Our ability to connect different organizations with our children. And our children understanding a little bit more about those organizations and really what they can do for us.”