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The North Wind

The North Wind

The North Wind

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Megan Voorhees
Megan Voorhees
Assistant News Editor

Hi! I’m Megan Voorhees and I’m the Assistant News Editor at The Northwind! I was first introduced to journalism my sophomore year of high school and I’ve been in love with the profession and writing...

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The North Wind is an independent student publication serving the Northern Michigan University community. It is partially funded by the Student Activity Fee. The North Wind digital paper is published daily during the fall and winter semesters except on university holidays and during exam weeks. The North Wind Board of Directors is composed of representatives of the student body, faculty, administration and area media.

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Zumbathon

The Recreation and Sports Programming class, PE495, in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation department is hosting an event for everyone in the community. The program will be a Zumbathon which features three continuous hours Zumba- a Latin-influenced, new-age dance exercise.

The Zumbathon is Thursday, April 19 from 7-10 p.m. Check-in begins at 6:30 p.m. and all are welcome. The entry fee is one non-perishable food item which will benefit the local food bank, St. Vincent De Paul.

This will be the first Zumbathon in Marquette County. The three hour marathon event will have four certified Zumba instructors leading the Zumbathon. Two of the instructors are from NMU and the others are from Bell Hospital and the Blue Lounge.

Carly Moore, a junior and Elementary Education major at NMU is one of the instructors. She has been a certified instructor for almost two years and will be volunteering her time for the Zumbathon.

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“I couldn’t run because I have bad knees,” Moore said. “Zumba seemed to be a way for me to stay active.”

Moore said that Zumba is great for all ages and for anyone who wants to try something new.

According to Associate Athletic Director, Brian Gaudreau, who is the instructor for PE495 it is required as a class project for the students to plan, organize, and implement a community sporting event.

“The purpose of the class is to put together a product then see it through from start to finish,” Gaudreau said. The students arranged themselves into small groups and pitched different ideas for a program event. Gaudreau and Katie Theut, Fitness and Informal Recreation Manager, listened to the groups’ presentations and the two selected Zumba.

“We decided that Zumba would have the most potential impact on students, faculty, and staff,” Gaudreau said.

The Zumbathon is sponsored by PE495 and the Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreational Sports Department.

The class has split up into five different planning groups to get the event up and running. The five groups are facilities, promotions, donations, concessions, and budget. Gaudreau said that this is a very interactive and group oriented project.

“[A Zumbathon] has never been done before,” said senior and Management of Health and Fitness major, Grace Petschauer, a member of the budget group. “It’s something new that a lot of people can participate in.”

According to facilities group member, senior Kurt White, majoring in Management of Health and Fitness, White’s Grocery in Escanaba is donating sports drinks to the event. The donations group is working to get other grocery stores to make contributions to the Zumbathon.

PE495 is aiming for an attendance of roughly 200 people for the event, which will be located at the Recreation Center in the Physical Education and Instructional Facility. The Zumbathon will occupy the space of the basketball courts, according to the facilities group.

“I’m excited,” Gaudreau said. “I hope we get 300 people there.”

The promotions group has been planning how they will spread the word about the Zumbathon. According to group member Stephanie Rogaczewski, a senior majoring in Management of Health and Fitness, her group is planning on posting flyers around campus, chalking the sidewalks around the academic mall, and putting out a student announcement in addition to talking individually to their classes and having a slide play at campus cinema.

At the Zumbathon there will be a T-Shirt give-a-way. 100 shirts will be randomly given away throughout the night. Participants will enter the drawing by providing their name, phone number and email address on a piece of paper when they check-in. The T-shirt, designed by the promotions group will say “I Survived the Zumbathon.”

For more information, email Brian Gaudreau at [email protected].

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