Once the students walked into the brain, they knew they were in for an extraordinary field trip.

Students and staff at Caneview Elementary School had a daylong treat as representatives from the LSU Ag Center presented Body Walk, a 35 foot by 45 foot interactive educational program created to teach students from kindergarten through fifth grade about proper nutrition, exercise and how the various parts of the body work.

The walk-through exhibit filled the school’s cafetorium, with partitioned rooms representing sections of the body such as the mouth, the muscles, intestines and brain.

(Use arrows above to view more photos) Advertisement

“We got to sit on teeth,” said third grade student Dawson Delahoussaye, who had just completed the walk. “It felt really weird.”

The success of the anatomical tour was evident as students discussed their favorite locations after exiting the large visual aid. Ryan Reed, a student in Mandy Glaubrecht’s third-grade class, found the process of digestion and the lower intestine interesting.

“You got to go in and see what happens,” Reed said. “You see how long it is, pictures, and you learn how food gets into the bloodstream.”

Amy Juneau, family consumer science agent with the LSU Ag Center, said the enormous exhibit is part of an overall program called Smart Bodies. In addition to Body Walk, described as an in-school field trip, students study two additional components known as Wisercise and the Organ Wiseguys, classroom portions of the program that are ongoing throughout the year.

“Our main focus is to incorporate nutrition and physical activity education into what they’re already learning,” Juneau said.

“Teachers already have a lot to do, so we try to make it easy to work the material into what they’re already doing.”

John Albarado, manager of the Body Walk program, said he visits more than 100 schools around the state throughout the year. The program is a joint initiative between the LSU Ag Center and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.

In addition to the program, schools are given more than $1,200 in educational health materials, including activity kits and videos.

The Body Walk will be set up today for the students at North Lewis Elementary School and will appear next week at Parks Elementary and St. Martinville Primary schools in St. Martin Parish and at W. P. Foster Elementary and J. A. Hernandez Elementary schools in Franklin the following week.