Walking onto the grounds of Dr. Howard Elementary School in Champaign Wednesday morning, one might have thought the scene looked more like a fun fair than a fundraiser.

The kids were participating in the school’s first Walk-a-thon, footing laps around the school to raise money for new gym equipment.

“All the gym equipment we have now is way old,” said Lynn Mikovich, physical education teacher. “We need new balls and everything,”

Complete with a clown, limbo and blaring Miley Cyrus music, hundreds of children in neon-green T-shirts walked or ran around the school, literally.

In weeks preceding the event, students went out and found sponsors willing to donate to the fundraiser. At the Walk-a-thon, students walked in shifts throughout the day determined by grade, with kindergartners and first-graders walking for 40 minutes total and all the older grades walking for 90 minutes. At each completed lap, students received a paper clip to track their progress.

“The kids were really excited; they went all out to get sponsors,” said Gloria Wood, second-grade teacher.

The Walk-a-thon was organized by the Parent-Teacher Association to replace the candy bar fundraiser used in past years. Mikovich, who was also the clown for the day, said that while last year’s candy bar sale successfully bought the school new risers for the music program, they felt it was by unhealthy means. They came up with a more physical activity for this year and used some of the proceeds from the candy bar sale to enhance the Walk-a-thon.

“All of the kids got free T-shirts and pedometers,” Mikovich said. “Stuff that some of them normally could not afford.”

Dr. Howard Elementary is a CATCH, or Coordinated Approach to Child Health, school. This means that beyond simple gym class, they incorporate nutrition and health into their programs by talking about things such as healthy food choices at lunch. While the Health Department gives CATCH schools some money for health-related equipment, Mikovich said they hope to raise an additional $7,000 from the Walk-a-thon to buy newer and better equipment.

Although Dr. Howard Elementary encourages more nutrition and less candy bars, the Walk-a-thon is not completely void of delicious motivation. The grade that collects the most paper clips and has completed the most laps at the end of the day will receive a pizza party in the coming weeks. Also, students who got the most sponsors for the event were rewarded with medals.

From the smiles and laughs at the Walk-a-thon, however, it seems students may have looked past the prizes and equipment and their greatest motivation might just have been getting out of the classroom. Second-grade participants Keon Moore and Gavyn Reinhart both said the most exciting part of the event was simply getting a chance to run around.