BY SHIVANI MULAHOO
Students, teachers, coaches, veterans and friends rose to the challenge — the Burpees for the Brave challenge, which took place in December at CHS in an effort to raise funds for the Intrepid Heroes Fund which helps injured veterans.
The event was organized by Mr. McKanna, a CHS PE teacher, who has a great deal of admiration for those who serve and for what they go through when they serve.
“Those who return home with catastrophic injuries need so much help,” he said. “I’m involved with the organization and I thought this would be a great idea, to get as many involved in this type of fundraiser as possible. My thought is, ‘will people do something in the name of the organization that makes them uncomfortable for five minutes to help others who will be uncomfortable for the rest of their lives?’”
The burpee is a full body exercise used in strength training and as an aerobic exercise. The basic movement is performed in four steps and known as a “four-count burpee. To do a burpee, start in a standing position, then drop into a squat position with hands on the ground. Next, kick the feet back, while keeping the arms extended. Then immediately return the feet to the squat position, and complete the exercise by jumping up from the squat position.
When Mr. McKanna approached Mr. Hobin with the idea he was excited “I think this is a great thing to bring into the wellness policy,” Hobin said just before his round of the challenge began. “I’ve been talking trash for two weeks; now I have to live up to it.”
Everyone who took part, about 200 people, chose a partner and each took the five-minute challenge to see how many burpees they could do in that time, while their partner kept the count for them, “It was the longest five minutes of my life,” Mr. Hobin said after, once he caught his breath again.
Members from the KC Cheerleading Team took part with their coach Lolita Roberts. “It s a great cause and we’re going to all have fun doing it,” she said.
One member of the team is raising funds for her sister, who completed five tours in Afghanistan. She was caught in an explosion which tore ligaments in her arm.
CHS science teacher and Army veteran Mr. Golas served in 2005 in Iraq. He kept it slow and steady and was able to do 53 burpees. “It’s my duty,” he said. “Not everyone came back in one piece. As bad as that may be to say, I’m here to do what I can to help.”
Kyle Willett and Mitch Diggle, high school students, teamed up together. Willett completed 82 but Diggle pulled ahead with 94. Both have family members in the military and wanted to take part.
Assistant Principal Brooke Macomber completed 50 burpees. “It’s a great cause. We have a great group of people taking part with a great group of kids,” she said. “We had an assembly last week when Mr. McKanna showed a video and you could hear a pin drop in this place.”
Macomber explained the other side of the fundraiser is the challenge the high school extended to Cranston High School East to do the same challenge, then their job is to reach out and challenge another school. Their Burpees for the Brave event is in March.
McKanna said everyone got behind the idea as soon as he started to spread the word. “We’ve had one kid who raised $640 and we’ve had kids who raise $10 and just want to take part and we have kids who are coming back here next year during their break to do it” he said. “You can feel the energy in the air, it’s great.”
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