KOROIT and District Primary School pupils are stepping out for a good cause.
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The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Step-a-thon aims to get children pounding the pavement and reaching up to 10,000 steps a day.
Grade 3 teacher Mathew Buck said 90 per cent of the pupils would take part.
“It promotes a healthy lifestyle,” Mr Buck said.
“We did it last year and the added bonus is that it raises funds for the Murdoch institute.
“Every day the students count their steps and they are aiming for 10,000.”
Mr Buck said a special walking day had been organised for the first week in September, when pupils would walk to Tower Hill and back.
“They will take about 50,000 steps,” he said.
Pupils have a slap band pedometer that records the number of steps taken and parents and friends have been encouraged to sponsor pupils per step or make a donation.
As the largest child health research institute in Australia and one of the top five in the world, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute aims to find the answers to the biggest health challenges facing Australian kids.
The institute’s director Professor Kathryn North said the step-a-thon was created as a fun way of encouraging a healthy community and to help address health problems before they begin.
Other schools in the region taking part include Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School, Emmanuel College, Timboon P-12 School, St Colman’s Primary School and Simpson Primary School.