Leading the 750 Weatherly Area School District students, from kindergarten through 12th grade on a one mile walk around the school campus were three Air National Guardsmen who recently returned from a seven month tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MSGT Chris Blackwell of Weatherly, CMSGT George Flick of Orangeville and SMSGT Raymond Yurista of Hazleton were invited to join Weatherly students during ACES (All Children Exercising Simultaneously) day, which has been held for the last eight years in Weatherly to encourage the children to sustain a lifetime of exercise. The men are members of the 201st Red Horse Squadron of the Air National Guard, based out of Fort Indiantown Gap.The Airmen reminded the students to eat a good diet of fruits and vegetables and to stay away from tobacco use because it causes a lot of health problems. They also noted that drug and alcohol use has lots of consequences that show up in later years.The students were also told to eat right and stay in good shape."If you eat properly and exercise, and get plenty of rest, you'll be physically fit for school," said Yurista. He said that soldiers do physical training every day to stay in shape. He said he lost 37 lbs. while overseas.Flick said that students should eat right and develop good habits to keep in shape."You also need to get enough rest along with a balanced diet," said Flick. He encouraged the students to think about entering the miliary because it is a good career field.The Airmen were invited to be guests on ACES Day so they could thank the students for sending collections of needed supplies of toiletries and snacks to the Red Horse Unit during their time overseas.In honor of the students' donations, a flag that was flown during a recent combat mission during Operation Iraqi Freedom ws presented to the students and faculty of the Weatherly School District.ACES day is a nationally recognized physical education program that takes place each year on the first Wednesday in May. It was created by physical education teacher Len Saunders in 1989. Since then children from all over the United States and world, exercise at 10 a.m. on this day to promote proper health and fitness habits.The walk was organized by the Weatherly Wellness Council, a group of concerned community leaders, parents, faculty and students.