This weekend's games

Below are some high school football games to catch this weekend:

Friday, Oct. 22
St. Joe's Prep at Roman (Germantown), 7 p.m.
Pope John Paul II vs. Owen J. Roberts (Roosevelt), 7 p.m.
O'Hara at Carroll (Radnor), 7:30 p.m.


Saturday, Oct. 23
Ryan at La Salle (Plymouth-Whitemarsh), 1 p.m.
Wood at Bonner (Upper Darby), 1 p.m.
West Chester East at Shanahan, 1 p.m.
West Catholic at Neumann-Goretti (Southern), time TBD
Episcopal at Malvern Prep, 2 p.m.
McDevitt at Conwell-Egan (Truman), 7 p.m.

Zumba craze

Over the past few months, I've been hearing relatives and friends talk about Zumba -- a lively dance fitness program set to Latin music. I did some research and found out that it's actually been around for a while. Choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez created Zumba in Colombia during the 1990s. Since its humble beginnings in an aerobics class in Cali, Colombia, Zumba is now being taught at over 60,000 locations in 105 countries, has sold millions of DVDs and has changed the lives of Zumba® fanatics worldwide with an astonishing 7.5 million participants taking Zumba classes every week (zumba.com).

Students at St. Hilary School in Rydal joined in on the party and kicked off "Wellness Wendnesdays" with a school-wide Zumba lesson a few weeks ago (photo above).

Here's more:

RYDAL — Students in kindergarten through eighth grades at St. Hilary School in Rydal kicked off their yearly wellness program with Zumba lessons in the school yard Sept. 22.
“Zumba is basically aerobic moves set to Latin music,” said Ellen Romano, a Zumba instructor who led children and faculty in the exhilarating workout. In addition, children rotated throughout a wellness fair to different exercise stations, including hula hooping and jumping rope.
St. Hilary’s Home and School Association treated students to chilled fresh fruit salad and water for their efforts, refreshing them while providing examples for healthy snack choices.
The school’s health and wellness program, titled “Wellness Wednesdays,” is held in conjunction with Holy Redeemer Hospital’s outreach program and exposes students to a “variety of health, nutrition and exercise information and activities that guide them toward taking an active role in their own fitness.”
Throughout the year parents and faculty encourage students to eat well and be on the move by providing plenty of activities and healthy food options, such as making salads the main entree sold in the cafeteria on Wednesdays. Students are also encouraged to participate in a weekly walking program on parish grounds during lunch recess. As incentive, children who walk earn raffle tickets toward prizes related to fitness and exercise or health.
According to Kathy McCrea, an educational resource committee member and program coordinator, last year a student won a WII Fit system.