Schoolchildren across Alaska will work up a sweat together Thursday morning in a synchronized half-hour of exercise.
Beginning at 10 a.m., thousands of kids will follow the lead of UAA physical education students who will lead them, via livestream, in a series of exercises.
The event is part of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame's Positive Leadership for Active Alaska Youth (PLAAY) iniative, which includes a two-day conference on adolescent health that features a variety of medical and sports experts.
Harlow Robinson, executive director of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, said Thursday's PLAAY Day marks a first for Alaska.
"We're going to have 10,000 kids across the state doing a half-hour of physical exercise together," he said.
About 100 schools in every corner of Alaska will participate, he said. Most will gather in their school gym, where the activity leaders will appear on a large screen.
The 30-minute workout will be led by a group of UAA students that decided to use the Iditarod as a framework for the program, Robinson said.
"They're going to do an exercise for every checkpoint," Robinson said. " 'Hey, we're in Ruby, we're going to do the berry-pick!' and then they do deep squats."
Four ability levels will be offered, he said — challenging, moderate, easy and adaptive.
Kids will be able to follow along with the P.E. students, and they'll be able to engage with participating students from three schools who will appear occasionally on a split screen. One is the school in Kiana in the Northwest Arctic borough and two are in Anchorage — Tudor Elementary and Chugach Optional.
"These synchronized activities have a way of galvanizing a community around a cause," Robinson said. "The purpose for this was … to get people to think about exercising."
On Friday and Saturday, the PLAAY summit will take place at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
Mao Tosi, a community activist who is a former NFL player, will deliver the keynote address. Panelists range from Jay Butler, Alaska's chief medical officer who will talk about teen opioid addiction, to Robert Coker, a UAF associate professor who will discuss the challenges of establishing physical activity programs in rural Alaska, to Holly Brooks, a two-time Olympic cross-country skier who will talk about coaching and gender issues.
Registration for the two-day convention is $150 for the general public, $100 for school district employees seeking professional development credits and $50 for UAA students.
For more information, go to plaay.org.
Beth Bragg is the Alaska Dispatch News sports editor and a member of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame's selection panel.