Fitness Fun Day - Just 2 weeks away!

I want to encourage everyone to sign up for my Fitness Fun Day if you haven't done so already. It is going to be alot of fun for kids in 1st - 5th grades and you also get to meet Shelby Ringdahl, Miss Missouri, as well as some of the Rock Bridge Cheerleaders.  The event is January 11th from 1:00 - 3:30 at Gentry Middle School. Cost is $20 and benefits Children's Miracle Network. I hope to see you all there!

There is also a link to this form on the right of this page.

Winter Wonderland

MU Children's Hospital hosted their annual Winter Wonderland event today. It is a fun time with refreshments and Christmas crafts and an opportunity for people in the community to drop off toys for Children's Hospital. Miss Missouri, Shelby Ringdahl, and I were happy to help out with the event and even got to play with some of the kids! Thanks to all who came out to donate toys. The hospital is still accepting donations throughout the holiday season.

Bringing small toys to Children's Hospitals to donate for treatments.

Wagons can be the best toy!

Jayla was pretending she was Shelby in the "Show Me Your Shoes" parade. She was wearing my sparkly high heels!

What? Santa's coming to see us this week?!

Fitness Fun Day Planning

Today I met at Gentry Middle School with the Rock Bridge Cheerleaders to put some more planning into my Fitness Fun Day coming up on January 11th. Thank you ladies for coming out on such a cold and wet day to help me plan our event.  They had a lot of good ideas and the day should be a ton of fun for kids in 1st to 5th grade!  Click on the link to the right of the page to print out the form to sign up!

Russell Ravens Rock It!

I had a great time this morning going to my former Elementary School, Russell Elementary and visiting with all 4 of the 4th grade classes and one of the 1st grade classes about my platform, Operation Fit Kids.  Many of the 4th graders were in my Russell Cheer Club last year. I haven't been able to sponsor the club this year due to the change of starting times at Elementary and Highs Schools and I miss those kids so much! It was great to see them again and tell them about my upcoming Fitness Fun Day on January 11th.

This wraps up my 2 weeks of visiting students in 1st - 5th grade in 17 classes in 5 elementary schools in Columbia. I have spoken to approximately 450 kids. All of this during finals week, too! It was so much fun, but I'm ready for the holiday break.

Ms. Arnett's 4th grade Class

Mrs. Beattie's 4th grade class

Miss Horrell's and Miss Winkler's 4th grade classes

I wrote lots of autographs and advice to 4th graders.

1st graders had lots of questions and answers and were very respectful,

Mrs. Drennan's 1st grade class. She was also my 1st grade teacher.

Mill Creek Elementary Fitness visit

On Monday I had the opportunity to visit the YES fitness club at Mill Creek Elementary school. This group of 3rd - 5h graders meet weekly with Coach Gambill to do different fitness activities. It was so exciting to see kids who already believe in fitness and like to participate in these types of activities. I told them a little bit more about leading a healthy lifestyle and was impressed with their knowledge of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. They rocked it when I asked them questions about these items!

Secret Elf Toy Drive - a Success!

Yesterday was the last day of the Q106.1 Secret Elf Toy Drive to benefit Children's Miracle Network at the Columbia Mall. Thank you to all of the generous folks in the Columbia area who donated to the toy drive! We had one of the best donation drives, ever.  The toys will not only be used at Christmas time, but year round at Children's Hospital to help the kids through treatments and hard times. Thank you to everyone who donated!

The Secret Elf Crew

Telling some shoppers how they can help.

Accepting some toy donations.

More donations.

Damon and I went shopping at Target to get some more toys for the kids from the donations!

Here is some of the cool stuff that we picked out!

Packing it all up to go to MU Children's Hospital.

Fairview Elementary kids Rock!

Yesterday I had a great visit talking to the 5th graders at Fairview Elementary School. The kids were so excited and engaging about my platform and excited to hear about my Fitness Fun Day coming up on January 11th. Here are some pictures from the day.

Ms. Lusby's and Ms. Wilcoxon's Classes

Can't leave without a silly pose!

Mrs. Hummel's and Mr. Earl's classes.
Thank you to Mrs. Hummel for inviting me and setting this up for the Fairview Fifth Graders. 

Silly poses with Mrs. Hummel's and Mr. Earl's classes! They were great kids at Fairview!

Rock Bridge Elementary Visit

Today I was able to visit 5 classes at Rock Bridge Elementary School and talk about my platform. I spoke with Ms. Manson's 2nd graders, and all 4 classes in the 1st grade. Thank you to Mrs. Yung for setting up my visits for her classroom as well as Ms. Reynolds, Ms. Ragsdale and Ms. Castle. Your kids were awesome and I had so much fun visiting with them about fitness.

Ms. Manson's 2nd grade class

Silly photo with Mrs. Yung and Ms. Reynold's classes

Speaking with 2 classes of 1st graders

Ms. Ragsdale and Ms. Castle's 1st Graders

Shepard Boulevard Elementary Speaking Engagement

Today I started a 5 day visit to various Columbia Public Schools elementary schools to promote my platform of Operation Fit Kids and my fundraiser, Fitness Fun Day, to benefit Children's Miracle Network Hospital here in Columbia.  I was fortunate enough to be able to begin at Shepard Boulevard Elementary School where my lovely Little Princesses, Madison and Mackenzie are in the 5th grade. I spoke with Mrs. Lee's and Mrs. Hamilton's classes and they were excited to hear about my platform and ask me some questions about what it would be like when they go to middle school next year.

Secret Elf Toy Drive

I had a great time today working with the folks at Q106.1 to benefit MU Children's Hospital for the annual toy drive to benefit the kids. Many Columbia folks were in the holiday spirit and excited to donate a toy for the cause. If you were unable to make it out today to donate, we will be in the Target Wing of the Columbia Mall again next Saturday, December 14th accepting donations as well.  Hope to see you there!

The whole crew from Q106.1 with TJ and me!

Damon Knight

This boy was happy to bring a big donation!

I saw my 2nd grade teacher, Ms. G!

I saw my 6th grade Lang Arts Teacher, Mrs. Froidl

This girl was dressed for Christmas!

Here is my CPAC buddy, Mira!

What a sweet girl!

Pageant Coaching with Lu Sierra!

I was so privileged to get to spend my afternoon with Lu Sierra last week. She gave me so many great tips on talent, interview, fitness, fashion and walking. I am getting so excited for the Miss Missouri Pageant!

Lu Sierra and Rachel

Mediacom Connections

Today I was invited to speak with James Mouser from 'Mediacom Newsleaders' about the Miss America Pageant System and my platform, "Operation Fit Kids".  The 5 minute segment will be running on Mediacom channel 22 in Columbia and Boone County throughout the month of December. I really appreciate the opportunity to get the word out in Columbia about how important it is to develop a healthy lifestyle.

Fitness Fun Day - January 11, 2014

I am pleased to announce that I will be hosting a Fitness Fun Day at Gentry Middle School on January 14th, 2014.  This will be a day for kids in grades 1st - 5th grade to have an afternoon of fitness activities and fun. There will be a cheer clinic led by the Rock Bridge Cheerleaders. I will have a dance clinic led by myself and some of my dance friends. We will have a Fitness Fun Challenge in the gym to explore ways to stay fit and just have a lot of fun. The Fun Day will start at 1:00pm and end at 3:30pm.

We will have a special guest, Shelby Ringdahl, Miss Missouri, 2013 who will be available to speak with kids, help out with our fitness day, and take pictures if you like. Price is $20, and includes a snack and water bottle.   All of the proceeds will go to our Miss America charity, Children's Miracle Network.

If you would like to sign up, please print out and send the attached registration form with your payment to the address listed.

Dream Factory 5K Day

I was so excited to get to help out at the Dream Factory 5K today. Dream Factory raises money to send a local child with a chronic illness on a trip of their choice. There were around 75 runners that participated and helped raise money for the organization.

Here are Sarah and Joe. They are local kids with illnesses that have benefitted from the Dream Factory!

My good friends Chloe and Kaylin turned out to support the event.

This little girl was one of the tiniest runners and so cute!

Here is just part of the crowd that turned out on the slightly damp day! I couldn't get everyone in the picture.