?Open the mouth, past the gums, look out stomach here it comes,? could have been part of the message at Thursday?s simulated tour of the human body.
Known as ?Body Venture,? elementary children from Marion and Hillsboro learned the importance of healthy food choices and the benefits of being active, said Kris Burkholder, MES counselor.
?Almost 500 kids between Hillsboro and Marion went through the 50-minute tour,? she said.
?We haven?t had (Body Venture) here for at least five and maybe even six years,? she said, but that is a rotating recommendation.
Linda Dunn of Topeka and one of the managers, said she was impressed with how many people volunteered to help set up Wednesday night.
Dunn said some schools are unable to offer volunteer help, which makes the job of set up anywhere from three to four hours long.
Burkholder said about 15 adults set up the 45-foot by 50-foot Venture-through exhibit in less than two hours.
?My husband came, school administrators were here, teachers and their husbands, two school board members, para(professionals), aides and their husbands,? she said.
?Justin Wasmuth (MES?principal) is a good coordinator,? Dunn said. ?He had the volunteers and worked to get this program here for a year.?
Also volunteering to teach lessons were Key Club members at Marion High School, Burkholder said.
?Linda Dunn met with the high school kids Thursday morning for about 45 minutes before we started,? she said.
Each high school student was asked to teach a lesson for five minutes for a total of 25 times, she said.
?If we hadn?t changed them out for a second group, it would have been a very long day.?
Dunn explained that prior to the Body Venture exhibit, the first USDA exhibit was ?Body Walk.?
As technology improved, though, with images on cloth and fabric on the inside defying gravity, it worked better, Dunn said.
Burkholder said students started the tour in the lunch room learning about food groups and healthy eating habits.
The other areas included heading to the brain, tongue, mouth, stomach, small intestine, heart, lungs, bones, muscles and skin.
At the end of the tour, students went to the Pathway of Life and reviewed what they learned.