Submitted Photo After finishing their 10th session of Rising New York Road Runners, second-graders at Silver Creek Elementary School received these T-shirts for their participation in this nationwide program that promotes a healthy and active lifestyle to schoolchildren.

SILVER CREEK — Silver Creek Elementary School teacher and district Wellness Committee member Trisha Sills has been leading a program called Rising New York Road Runners, a free youth fitness program, for her second-grade class.

Thousands of students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade participate in the program designed to instill kids with the confidence to stay healthy and active for life and build fitness skills in ways that work for all ages and abilities. Sills holds the program two to three times per week and notes that the long winter has taken a toll on students, but that the extra dose of physical activity rejuvenates the classroom.

Sills has seen measurable progress in her students’ stamina.

“I can see a difference for my students because we have a very long afternoon schedule and the fatigue set in,” said Sills, who notes the program’s different incentives motivate her and the children. “We gather up and head to the gym for about 15 minutes to let loose and run/walk. My students always look forward to it and ask ‘Are we doing the running program today?'”

Sills, who also saw success and robust participation in Boys on the Right Track before-school leadership and life skills club she co-advised in the fall of 2017 fellow educator Janelle Smith, plans to continue the Road Runners program through June and into the 2018-2019 academic year.

“I can’t wait to be able to take them outside since they are becoming able to run for a longer time,” said Sills, alluding to spring’s lingering wintry weather. “It will be nice to take them outside.”