Kids are getting fit in a whole new way this past summer. Hearing the Latin beats calling, kids from Drumheller have been dancing up a storm in Zumbatomic.
    The dance course is based on the popular fitness dance Zumba, which is taught at the Carol Todor Dance School. Zumbatomic is targeted towards children 4 and up.
    “It’s Latin dance put to Latin rhythms, and we break it down and modify it for kids,” said Nancy Lacombe, who teaches the class.
    The moves are changed slightly to be more child friendly, and each song and its moves are broken down step by step so the kids can more easily learn the dances.
    “We don’t want them to be frustrated, we want to set them up for success,” said Lacombe.
    The class was first offered this past spring. Prior to that, Zumba was only offered to adults and teens.
    “I wanted to bring something different for kids, other than sports or something competitive. Zumbatomics it’s about what the kids want to do and have fun. There’s no pressure,” said Lacombe.
    There have been two sessions already, both of which were bursting with students according to Lacombe. A fall 10 week session will be getting underway soon.
    “We’ve had great success with it. There have been fully booked classes in the spring and summer, and we hope kids will come out in the fall. I’ve had a wide range of kids, from those who are shy to outgoing, and I’ve even had kids with disabilities come to classes,” said Lacombe. “It’s for both males and females. I’ve had a few boys join the class and they just love it.”
    For those unfamiliar with Zumba, it is a combination of Latin dance and fitness. The goal of Zumba is to get people fit, have fun while doing it, and meet some new friends.
    For those who want more information call Lacombe at 403-821-1038 or Carol Todor at 403-823-4377.
    I am really excited to offer it, because it’s something different,” said Lacombe. “It’s greats for kids to get active. They’re dancing and having fun, and they don’t even know they’re doing physical activity. We hope to get our younger generation more active and healthier.”

    As kids rushed into school last week, some may have noticed a few changes that occurred over the summer. In Standard, students would not have even cleared the doors before seeing something new.
    This year the school is boasting a brand new playground, which to some students may well be the coolest change they’ve seen.
    “Last year we had a parent council committee that went ahead and got government grants. At the end of June we had work crews ripping out the old playground and installing the new, so kids could spend all summer testing it,” said Janice Reagan, with Standard School.
    The old playground was built in stages over the years. The old pieces of equipment were built 35 years ago and many were from 20 years ago.
    “It always looks nice to see a new playground in the yard. Parts of it were here for at least 35 years. That’s how long we hung on to our old equipment. It was time for a change,” said Reagan.
    An added feature of the playground is that if/when the time arises and the school shuts down in favour of a new school to serve a large chunk of Wheatland County, much of the equipment can be reinstalled elsewhere.
    “It’s installed on moveable tracking. A lot of the equipment can be moved to a new location, but parts of it will stay in the community,” said Reagan.
    For staff, the school welcomed its new associate principal, Amy Van Vliet. The position had been previously been vacant. In addition, the school welcomed a new caretaking staff.
    There are few changes this year inside the school. Everything is on hold until the future of the consolidated Wheatland East K-12 school is certain.
    “All major things are kind of on hold and everything is status quo until the government has made its decision about Golden Hill’s application for a stand alone school,” said Reagan.
    There are about 20 new students to the school this year, bringing the total to 200 students.
    For now the school is working as normal, though many students are undoubtedly looking wistfully at the new playground from their desks, just waiting for recess to begin.