Hampton Students Sweat Out Fun in New 'Boot Camp'

Meeting with the school librarian just got a lot more intense in Hampton thanks to a brand new "boot camp"-style physical fitness program that has students not only working their butts off, but smiling and having fun, too.

Roughly 75 Marston School students have been participating each week in an hourlong afterschool boot camp run by school librarian Alison Griffin, physical education instructor Laurie Sullivan, fourth grade teacher and high school basketball coach Jay McKenna, and school counselor Susan Antico.

Griffin said the children "love it" so far and are really receptive to the idea, which fits with the Hampton School District's goal of raising health awareness and physical activity levels with its schools.

The thing that takes the students by surprise, though, is that the librarian and school counselor are barking out instructions — not just the gym teacher and basketball coach — on how to scale a series of hurdles that have nothing to do with reading or life.

"It doesn't seem to fit with how they classify what a librarian is," said Griffin, an active individual who enjoys cross-fit training. "They didn't think I would be tough enough. They didn't think I was loud and tough enough, but I'm surprising them."

Marston School is in its fourth week of the boot camp program, which is split into a Thursday and a Friday group in order to reduce the participant size so students have enough room and time to use all of the equipment and pass through the various stations.

The program will run for one more week before beginning a new five-week session in January, and the goal is to run at least one other session in the spring. Griffin said Hampton Academy will also soon start its own afterschool boot camp, while Centre School will incorporate the equipment into its gym classes.

Griffin said the program engages students in metabolic conditioning and wouldn't be possible without that equipment, which was donated by MaxEdge Fitness Training owner Jay Collins.

Collins used the $10,000 he raised through a 1,000 burpee pushup challenge earlier this year to purchase rope ladders, medicine balls, pull-up bars, weights and "a bunch of equipment that we didn't have at the school," said Griffin. It has helped staff create a different learning environment for students, and Griffin said that environment is making students "want to come to school every day."

"When they leave, they're tired and they're sore, but they smile and they really, really love it," said Griffin, who said the program is allowing her to see and interact with students in a "different light" that is helping her build new "relationships" with them. "I think they're really enjoying using the new equipment.

"The only thing we did ask is if the kids wanted to do it. We didn't want to see parents signing up their kids and making their kids do it. For the most part, the kids really wanted to do it themselves. They're excited and they look forward to it every week."

Additional information about the program is available by contacting the school at 926-8708.