CASPER, Wyo. – Laughter and joyous yells echoed through the groomed trails and among the trees at the McMurry Mountain Park biathlon track on Thursday morning as students from Manor Heights Elementary took to their skis.

The morning activity kicked off the Ski PE program, a collaboration between SkiCasper and the Casper Mountain Biathlon Club that gives elementary students in 4th and 5th grades the chance to learn cross-country skiing and biathlon events as part of their physical education classes.

(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

The program is designed to give students of all abilities the chance to participate, including those who require special and adaptive equipment, said SkiCasper’s Cathy Nyrkkanen.

“Most of them are beginners, and this is their first time,” she said.

They start off with equipment fittings and simple introductory instruction much like Ski Casper’s beginner classes, she said. It’s not long before they’re on the trails and working up a sweat while doing laps.

(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

“Today we have a couple of students with disabilities that require some adaptive equipment, so we have that available and the people to help them,” she said.

Later in the afternoon, students were given the chance to use electronic rifles to learn how cross-country shooting works. “They go off on infrared, there just dry-firing, no projectiles” she said. “It’s more like pretending and getting an idea of how it works.”

There are some 14 biathlon ski field trips scheduled for this season, she said.

Full inclusion is a hallmark of Manor Heights Elementary in particular, she said. The school Unified Champion School, and is participating in the upcoming Jackalope Jump on March 8, with a goal of raising $15,000 for Special Olympics Wyoming. More information on the event and to donate can be found here.

(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)

Oil City News LLC is a nonpartisan media organization and Central Wyoming’s largest locally owned, independent news platform. The mission of Oil City’s award-winning team of Casper-based journalists is to build a more informed and connected community by producing local stories first, fast and forever free. If you would like to read the original article, click here.

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