Walking on snow

The fifth-grade students at Abram Lansing Elementary School had an unusual physical education class at the end of February.

Instead of the typical class in the gym, students strapped on snowshoes and trudged through the field and park behind the school as part of a special program.

The snowshoeing was arranged through the Pine Bush Nature Center. The organization often leads snowshoeing trips for students or other groups on their nature center campus.

The students, who had not been on snowshoes before, loved the ability to walk nearly on top of the snow and seemed to enjoy themselves as they learned how to cost down a small hill on their heels and use the crampons on the front of the snowshoes to dig in while going up hill.

"I'm glad our students had this opportunity," said Abram Lansing Elementary School Principal Cliff Bird. "It was great fun, and the students will hopefully always remember it."

Back in the classroom, teachers and students used math and critical thinking skills to answer the question, "How do snowshoes work?"