Obstacle Competition Set

Giovanni Train, from left, Nicholas Sanchez and Jose Leon, all Monitor Elementary School students, work Thursday on a sign they will use to root each other on at today’s Big Event in Springdale.
Giovanni Train, from left, Nicholas Sanchez and Jose Leon, all Monitor Elementary School students, work Thursday on a sign they will use to root each other on at today’s Big Event in Springdale.

— As 24 boys lined up to practice running an obstacle course set up outside Monitor Elementary School on Thursday, parent volunteer Josh Underdown urged them to get loud.

At A Glance

The Big Event

What: An obstacle course competition between teams of boys from Monitor and Elmdale elementary schools

When: 1-3 p.m. today

Where: Monitor Elementary School, 3955 E. Monitor Road, Springdale

Cost: Free

Vendors attending: Zaxby’s, Blanca’s Frozen Treats, Lewis and Clark Outfitters, Pediatric Dental Associates, Riders United 4 Children motorcycle club, First Tee, Premiere Cheer and Tumbling, Springdale Police Department, Springdale High School football, World Gym

Source: Andee Ingram

“I don’t hear anyone cheering,” Underdown called out.

The boys erupted in cheers, rooting on their classmates as they leapt from one hoop to another and ran weaves through cones.

The boys were training for today’s Big Event, a competition that is the culmination of a six-week after-school program intended to teach life skills while encouraging participants to get physically active.

The program, called Xcel 2 Fitness, started in North Carolina. Two Springdale elementary schools — Monitor and Elmdale — are the first U.S. schools outside North Carolina to try it.

Xcel 2 Fitness is for boys in grades three through five. It is similar to Girls on the Run, a 10-week program in which elementary school girls meet twice a week for a lesson on issues facing girls, followed by exercise.

Andee Ingram, a Monitor speech pathologist, was a Girls on the Run coach at her school. She noticed boys were feeling left out.

“The boys were like, ‘why don’t we have something for us?’,” Ingram said.

That’s what led her to try Xcel 2 Fitness.

Participants meet twice a week for an hour after school. The boys get a character-building lesson related to whatever the focus is for the day, such as leadership, teamwork or setting goals.

Then they have physical activities. The boys divide into teams and participate in obstacle course races.

The Big Event at Monitor this afternoon will pit teams from Monitor and Elmdale against each other in an obstacle course race. Xcel 2 Fitness founder Stephen Vaughn of Wingate, N.C., will attend, Ingram said.

At Thursday’s session, Ingram urged boys to listen well and be good teammates at the Big Event.

“It’s not about who goes first and who goes last,” she told them.

Jose Leon, a Monitor fifth-grader and program participant, said the boys are encouraged to help each other, especially when one of them gets hurt.

“I like how we work together,” he said.

Most young boys have plenty of energy. Teaching them to direct that energy in a positive direction is part of the program’s goal, Ingram said.

“They want to be macho with each other,” she said. “We want them to know it’s OK to be happy when you win, but you’ve got to be a good winner. It’s really good for social skills for a lot of them.”

Students pay $25 to participate in the program, but they have opportunities to get a scholarship. Ingram said several teachers at Monitor paid participation fees for the boys.

The current season of Xcel 2 Fitness concludes today. Ingram said another six-week season will start in the spring.

She hopes Xcel 2 Fitness will spread to other schools in this area, she said.

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