Staying fit, being active and having something to do were just three reasons why students in two of Montezuma-Cortez High School teacher Bethany Carrigers Teen Challenge classes decided to form and create an obstacle course for the community at large to participate in next month.
Also included in the project were the student organization, School Community Collaborative and the District Wellness Committee.
Carriger broached the idea to her students in early March as part of its nine-week nutrition and fitness core requirement, and it was well received.
Carriger said her students instead of just studying about health and nutrition, can be advocates for the community on health-related issues.
She said for this to happen students needed to be able to set goals, communicate and work as a team, and she wanted something where people did not have to be the athletic type to participate, and having fun participating was another key component.
Carriger mentioned running a half marathon a few years ago, which she said was not enjoyable and the following year she competed in the Warrior Dash, a more fun and enjoyable obstacle course.
We want to make our community a healthier place, she said and told her students that since they are a part of this community they can make an impact.
I think our community is ripe and ready for an obstacle course, she said and mentioned May 19 as the desired date.
Besides the obstacle course, students will create events outside of the course for community members not wanting to participate but who are attending to cheer on participants.
The course would be at the practice fields outside the high school campus, and Carriger said students have been working on the idea for about three weeks.
In a presentation to the school board on Tuesday, Carriger said this project not only meets the many standards of the required health class but also meets many character and college ready desires of the district and the community through students building leadership skills, working as teams, problem solving, practicing professional communications and working in true partnerships with the community.
Funds and profits received for this event, she said, would be used for community events in the future.
The students were split into 12 groups, and each group had to create an obstacle for the course, first by drawing and then developing a plan to bring it to fruition.
Each of the 12 groups would need to have an adult to help the students with their ideas.
This is as much fun for me as it is for them, she said. As far as I know, this is new and crazy for this area.
Cheyenne Baber, an 11th-grader, was not really interested in creating an obstacle. She was asked if she could create the logo for the obstacle course titled Montezuma Mayhem, which she said she did through trial and error.
Everyone came up with an obstacle, and she knew I like to draw, she said.
Baber also is in charge of working behind the scenes in the area of advertising, creating posters and finding the costs of the shirts for the participants.
She said they need to let the community know about the event, so more people will come out to participate and have fun.
There is no reason to be bored when you can do things like this, Baber said.
Valentina Silver, an 11th grader, said her groups obstacle included an over-and-under activity totaling 50 meters.
I thought it was easy to do and we only needed tires and cones (to create it), she said.
Silver also said she was not overly confident on the desired date of May 19 once she found out the amount of work that was going to be needed for the event.
Its kind of exciting to be able to do this during school time, she said.
Ninth-grader Damian Wilson, who is in Silvers group, created the drawing on the over-and-under obstacle.
I think it will be fun to try, and I hope people can make it through, he said.
Kirrsty Rankin, a ninth-grader, said her groups obstacle involved a rubber tundra where participants would have to step through tires on a hill.
Rankin said she thought it would be pretty cool to have an obstacle that included tires.
I think even people outside the county would even come, Rankin said.
Kiana Blueeyes, another ninth-grader, said including a hill in the tire-obstacle course would make it more of a challenge to participants and thinks it would burn a lot of energy to run up and down the obstacle.
The students are hoping to attract more than 200 people from the community for next months obstacle course, and Blueeyes thinks its success will partly hinge on the number of students willing to donate their free time to help put on the event.
Sarah Enriquez, a 10th-grader, said lots of math was needed to create obstacles for the course, and Blueeyes said the physical education courses would play roles too because setting up the obstacles, and then taking them down after the event would require some physical strength.
Carriger also told the board that the event has the support of the Cortez Fire Department and the Cortez Police Department, and both entities have promised to create a document incident action plan, minor consent forms and a school waiver of liability.
The board at its Tuesday meeting supported the idea and asked Carriger to work with Michael Canzona, chief of operations for the district, to iron out any liability issues for the Re-1.
Part of the Colorado Health Standards that Carriger addressed included Colorado statute 4.10a which is for determining situations and environments that could lead to unsafe risks that cause injuries.
Michael Maresh can be reached at michaelm@cortezjournal.com