District physical education teacher Jill Campbell and fourth-grade teacher Amber Schapman donned costumes to lead Weston Elementary School students in a number of exercises and activities.

IMLAY CITY — For students at Weston Elementary, exercise is aces.

Last week, Weston Elementary students in pre-K through second grade participated in ACES (All Children Exercise Simultaneously) Day.

The all-day affair is solely focused on physical fitness and wellness. To kick off ACES Day, Weston students joined visiting “helper” students from Imlay City High School and headed over to the district’s football field for some physical education activities. High school students lead classes in a number of physical activities, such as relay races and duck-duck-goose.

District physical education teacher Jill Campbell and fourth-grade teacher Amber Schapman then led Weston Elementary School students in warm-up exercises like toe touches, lunges and jumping jacks. Donning “Go Noodle” costumes, Campbell and Schapman also led the students through the motions of the “Banana, Banana, Meatball” song, which emphasizes patterns. “The staff and students had a blast,” said Campbell.

The Imlay City Community Schools track was the site of some coordinated exercise thanks to “ACES” Day.

Finally, each class was announced, and students, along with staff and high school helpers, ran or walked a few laps around the track while listening to upbeat music. “The weather was perfect, and everyone had so much fun while exercising,” said Campbell. “Thank you to (ICS athletic director) Mr. Don Gauthier, the high school students, and all staff and students at Weston Elementary for a fantastic day.”

ACES, or “All Children Exercising Simultaneously,” is a globally coordinated day of physical activity designed to teach students the importance of exercise and physical fitness. Project ACES was created by physical education teacher, best-selling author and motivational speaker Len Saunders in 1989 as a method of motivating children to exercise. ACES, referred to as “the world’s largest exercise class,” takes place around the same time each year worldwide, with participating schools worldwide teaching millions of children from all over the world to exercise together to promote proper health and fitness habits.

ACES, or “All Children Exercise Simultaneously,” is a national physical wellness awareness effort, and Imlay City Community Schools yearly participates.