KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Evelyn Price is four years old and serious about two things: drawing pictures of dogs and staying active while learning from home.
Price's family is one of more than 2,000 participating in PowerUp Fitness, a school-based physical learning program across hundreds of schools in East Tennessee and throughout the U.S.
A global pandemic forced what would typically happen in the school gym online.
Evelyn and her mom Alicia use virtual fitness learning videos from Power Up,
a local program helping students learn while being active in school.
"All of our programs are academic, whether it's ABC's or geometry," founder Stacy Baugues said.
The COVID-19 pandemic means educators need to take different approaches towards keeping kids active. Instead of typical activities, on-demand virtual videos to keep virtual students like Evelyn up and moving.
"Families can pick videos based on age or academic integration," Baugues said.
She said that is important to combat learning loss, but it's also important to keep kids moving in a time when many are learning from home. Experts said that she is not wrong.
Since the pandemic began, studies everywhere from the University of California to the National Library of Medicine show kids are less active right now and Baugues said there are ways communities can change that.
"They can have lots of fun and get moving and get learning together," she said.
That is something that is important for Evelyn's mom, Alicia, too.
"While the pandemic is a very stressful time this helps bring some light to it quite frankly," she said.
Power Up Fitness is currently offered in several East Tennessee schools like Oak Ridge and Lenoir City. Families can also find it at the YMCA and Centro Hispano.