Lifeline: Making Exercise Fun For Elementary School Kids

CARMICHAEL (CBS13) – With the lights and fog machine, it's easy to see why the kids at Carmichael Elementary School are getting up and moving.

"I had a lot of fun.  I exercised," says fifth grader Lincoln Richeal.

Each station shows how exercise can be fun.

"A lot of kids play video games but this gets them moving and thinking about exercise," says Brandei Smith, principal at Carmichael Elementary School.

Unhealthy kids are something Principal Smith is used to seeing.  But, when youth motivator Sami Kader's circuit class visits the school, everyone is exercising together.

"He taught me never to give up," Richeal says.

It's an important message the fifth grader learns from Kader – and one of the big reasons Smith keeps having Sami's Circuit back at the school.

"It teaches the kids to believe in themselves, and they hear his story and know they can do it too," Smith says.

Sami used to be overweight.

"When I was 15 years old, I reached 300 pounds," Kader says. "I was obese, unhappy with my life, unhappy with everything."

He's hoping other kids won't be like him – this is why he created Sami's Circuit.  He visits schools and hopes to boost kids' self esteem.

"You have to work on yourself.  You have to respect who you are and there's things you can do.  Exercise," Kader says.

And judging by the smiling faces, it appears what Kader's doing is working.

"He really motivates me," Richeal says.

For more information on Sami's Circuit, head to his website at: http://samikader.com/samis-circuit-at-the-family/.