Fitness program to take students around world

Participants in the I Am Fit Program are walking to a healthier lifestyle and visiting places around the world in the process.

Students and teachers from A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet High School and the Medical College of Georgia kicked off the first year of the four-year program Friday in the magnet school's auditorium.

"The goal this year is to walk the same number of miles as it would take to walk from Augusta to Tierra del Fuego, the tip of South America," said Denise Kornegay, an assistant professor of family medicine at MCG, the director of the Georgia Area Health Education Center and MCG's liaison to A.R. Johnson.

"Each year, we are going to go through different continents. By the end of the four-year program, we will have visited every continent in the world."

More than 150 participants are split up into teams, and each week they will report the miles they walked, using a pedometer they were given. Each team member's mileage will add up to the team's total.

I Am Fit is a pilot program designed by students from both schools.

Last year, participants walked the mileage it would take to go from Augusta to Hawaii. It was such a success, they decided to turn the competition into a four-year program walking around the world, Ms. Kornegay said.

A.R. Johnson senior Corey Harris helped create the program.

"What I like about the competition is that it makes losing weight and staying healthy a group effort rather than an individual effort," he said. "When you have over 100 fellow students walking and competing with you, it's less intimidating."

In December, each participant had a health screening measuring height, weight, body mass and blood pressure. Another screening will be done after the competition, and the results will be compared.

Students from A.R. Johnson had to get parental permission to participate.

Carl Hammond-Beyer, a teacher and an organizer, said he hopes participants will develop habits that will last longer than the competition.

"It'll change the way they look at exercise," he said. "They will see the need for exercise and realize that it can be fun. If we can shape those positive thoughts on exercise now, then as adults they will continue those healthy habits."

The competition will last through May 1.

Reach Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augustachronicle.com.