CLEARFIELD TWP — Erin Hilderband wanted to keep checking the device at her hip to see how many steps she had taken that day, but she tried hard to wait until she was near her goal — 10,000 steps a day.

She and other fifth grade students at two elementary schools in the Butler School District wore pedometers to gauge their activity for four days the week of Dec. 4.

Physical education teacher Sandy Augustine enrolled her 52 students at Oakland and 44 students at Clearfield in the Live It! program. It provided free Stepometers, promotional material and ideas for activities for each student.

"I liked the idea because it included nutrition and the movement," she said.

She challenged each student such as Erin to get in 10,000 steps each day.Students David McCollugh and Caitlin Drane made that goal.

Caitlin said her mother encouraged her to walk on the treadmill and to run around the house to reach the goal.

Jake Harrison's favorite way to step up his number was to play with his Jack Russell terrier, Chip. Jake missed the goal a few days, he said, and averaged about 9,000 steps daily. He said he thought the goal was high.

Erin, however, was surprised how quickly her total climbed while she was at soccer practice. She said during the drills for Northern Crew alone she usually logged 7,000 steps. On days she didn't have practice, she found other ways to exercise.

"I didn't stop until I got there," she said.

David took a different approach. He decided to have fun while trying to reach the 10,000 step goal and he and his family danced around in the family's basement.

"They were very aware of how much they were moving,"Augustine said. She said she heard anecdotes of students jogging in place at the bus stop or running around the house to push their pedometer to the magic mark. Caitlin said the goal motivated her: "Just trying to get to the goal, you just wanted it so much."

All four students said even now that they aren't wearing the pedometers, they are more aware of how active they are. Additionally, they remember some of the tips about healthy eating from the videos and posters. Students were asked to jot down a healthy food they ate each day when they logged their step total.

The program was developed by Coca-Cola Co. in partnership with the School Nutrition Association, "The President's Challenge"Physical Activity and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.

Augustine said she'll keep the pedometers so she can use them in a project where the students will walk part of the Washington Trail later this school year. That project is funded by a Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation grant.