LEWISBURG -- Children have been taught how to eat healthy for years while in school. On Monday, students got some nutrition and fitness tips from NCAA Division One athletes.
It was a packed house at Sojka Pavilion as the Bucknell Lady Bison Basketball team took on the Lafayette Leopards. More than 1,000 elementary and middle school students cheered and waved orange towels at the game in Lewisburg.
"You get to see all the things that happen and you get to be up close and personal," Katrina Bennage said.
These students weren't just here to watch basketball.
"We learned what to eat to keep your body healthy and some exercise you should do," Audrey Shipman said.
"About how to eat healthy, proper portions, and what kind of food you can take out of your life that's distracting you from eating healthy," Nathaniel Marosi said.
This was Bucknell's second annual Education Day. Student-athletes met with the kids to talk about how to eat healthy and stay active.
"We get to talk to some of the basketball players and wrestlers and find out how they eat to keep themselves healthy," Bennage said.
"It's kind of cool because you see that they're athletes and you can see how it affects them on the court," Shipman said.
Maisha Kelly is Bucknell University's senior associate director of athletics. She says the event is just as beneficial to the university students. It allows them to show the kids what they did to become NCAA Division One student-athletes.
"For us, it really is a mutually beneficial opportunity where we can say, 'Hey, if you have an interest in pursuing athletics or even just staying healthy, here's a path you can take,'" Kelly said.
Students from five different school districts were at the game.
Kelly tells Newswatch 16 this year's event drew more than three times the amount of kids than last year's.
The kids had a lot to cheer about. The Lady Bison won the game 83-53.