Gymkana Performs for Area Elementary School Students

The Gymkana Troupe, the student gymnastics and acrobatic club that promotes drug-and-alcohol-free lifestyles, recently performed for over 200 elementary school students from Paint Branch ES, Capitol Heights ES and Bradbury Heights ES. The event featured exciting performances by Gymkana--including their trademark "ladder dance" routine--as well as a giveaway of several scholarships to their summer camp.

Fortunately for those who weren't in attendance, a few reporters were on hand to capture the sights and sounds, and we have pictures from Dr. Sharon Desmond as well.

For more Gymkana, they will be hosting their annual home show TODAY AND TOMORROW (April 3rd and 4th) in the Comcast Center. Showtime is at 7 pm. For ticket information, please visit http://www.gymkana.org/homeshow.html.

From the Gazette (the article can be found here: http://bit.ly/OdDi):

Parent-teacher liaison José F. Alonso enjoys the partnership with the University of Maryland and thinks it's important to bring the students to events like Gymkana.

"We are exposing the kids to things that they have never seen," Alonso said. "They've never seen gymnastics. They've never seen equipment like that, and it's great being able to take them to one of the greatest institutions in the nation."

From the Prince George's Sentinel (the article can be found here: http://bit.ly/VhTFY):

Some of the stunts were standard gymnastic fare: parallel bar demonstrations, balance beam exhibitions and floor routines.

But what truly impressed the children were the gymnatics troupe novelty acts: ballet performed on vertical ladders, synchronized vaulting and a gymnastics routine using a series of stacked chairs. All the acts brought smiles and clamors of applause from the children in the audience.

As impressed as the kids were from the acrobatic stunts, what was even more impressive was the message they displayed:

Stay totally drug-and alcohol-free and you can also soar.

“This is the best field trip I’ve ever been on,” said excited Paint Branch sixth-grader Teyvon Broadnax. “It’s the best field trip in the entire universe.”

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Thanks to The Gazette and The Prince George's Sentinel for covering the Gymkana event. For more information on Gymkana, visit http://www.gymkana.org/.