Good Times, Good Health and More at McCombs Wellness Fair
From tug-of-war to healthy food, students and teachers enjoyed the first McCombs Wellness Fair.
The maiden voyage of an event that is expected to become an annual affair was held on Wednesday at McCombs Middle School. The Wellness Fair went very, well – well!
Thirty vendors were represented at booths in the gym but the show-stealers were out front where fire trucks and the Des Moines Police Department Bomb Squad were parked. In the backyard were a couple of obstacle courses; an inflatable version and a traditional one fashioned from automobile and tractor tires. Roaming the grounds was Cubbie Bear on behalf of the Iowa Cubs who would have easily been the BMOC (Big Mascot on Campus) if not for the inflatable soldier the US Army brought along.
Besides their impressive mobile command center the DMPD delegation featured Marley, a two year-old bomb-sniffing chocolate lab, a robotic defusing device and a suit that looked like the ones deep sea divers wear. But all of it wasn’t enough to prevent the explosion going on inside.
Students wandered the exhibits in shifts, stuffing their swag bags with healthy reminders and souvenirs that included coupons for bowling and Adventureland.
Eighth grader Jack Hayes was impressed: “A lot has changed since I started here in 6th grade. First they remodeled some of the classrooms so we didn’t have to go outdoors to the old mobile ones anymore and now we have cool events like this and the STEM Career Day last fall.”
PE teacher Catrina Summy is part of the school’s Wellness Committee that planned the event and she was overwhelmed by the community response.
“The agencies we approached were very receptive and cooperative,” she said. “Everybody was eager to help us put something meaningful together to make a real impression on the kids about the importance of healthy lifestyles and choices.”
There were health clubs demonstrating exercise routines and food vendors offering samples of healthy snack foods like hummus that have umm as one of the main ingredients. Students were directly involved with many of the displays and demonstrations.
So the wellness part was well-covered indoors. The fair was outdoors where students basked in the unusually warm weather eating what amounted to a picnic lunch on the very green McCombs lawn that’s about as big as a fairground. Everything got the attention it deserved but the most was directed at Marley who put on a show by “waving” at the crowd and tirelessly fetching the chew toy that is about all she asks in exchange for her community service.
“Can you train my dog to be like her?” someone shouted out. Marley doesn’t just sniff for bombs. Marley IS the bomb!
And all’s well at McCombs.
