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Virginia physical education teacher keeps kids moving online

For the last two weeks, a Fairfax County elementary school physical education teacher has been holding daily online fitness events for students featuring stretches, short workouts and challenges. “It’s just so fun, and … sometimes I wear my crazy pants and people get so excited about it. I’ve gotten such a great reaction,” said Suzanne Metz, a teacher at North Springfield Elementary. She leads the Facebook Live fun at 9:45 a.m. weekdays. Sometimes she’s inside her house; sometimes, outside on her cul-de-sac. Her 17-year-old son, Ryan, does the filming while his 14-year-old brother, Cooper, joins his mom on-camera. Each event lasts about 15 minutes and starts with some stretches followed by a short workout. “We’ll do jumping jack ABCs, push-up ABCs, anything to ABCs,” Metz said. Each one also includes a physical challenge of some kind. “Parents love it. Kids type in how many pushups they did,” said Metz. To take part, you have to join the NSES Keeps In Touch Facebook page. Metz is the page’s administrator and will approve anyone who clicks to join. The videos are also posted later to YouTube.

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There will be four more Facebook Live events this week. But at this point, Metz is not sure whether she will hold any next week, during spring break.

Fairfax County firefighters come home after assisting Colombia earthquake victims

Ten Fairfax County firefighters who are part of Virginia Task Force 1 returned late Thursday from helping coordinate a rescue effort after the devastating earthquake in Colombia. Family members greeted the team as they arrived in Chantilly Thursday night. A young girl held a sign that read "Welcome Home Daddy." For Andy Kassavetis, this was his first mission with Task Force 1, and seeing the devastation in Colombia put some things into perspective for him. He said he saw firsthand "how impactful an event can be on a community. It makes you think about, you know, really when you come home sharing the love with the people around you and letting them know you’re there with them, because things can change really quickly.”
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