Madera students tackle fears, test their skills on Ninja Warrior Course at Winter Crew camp

MADERA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Students in Madera are spending their final week of winter break back at school.

Expanded learning opportunities opened up this week and nearly 1,000 kids are taking part.

During this winter crew camp, Madera Unified students are jumping, running and holding on tight.

"The little ones have a lot of energy," MUSD Director of Expanded Learning Suzanne Dudney said.

For the first time, students are getting the opportunity to try out a Ninja Warrior course -- similar to the popular game show -- set up at Desmond Middle School.

"It's just a lot of fun for them. It gets them active, gives them a little bit of a challenge to get through and it's just a lot of fun," Dudney said.

After a quick rundown of the rules and a demonstration by the pros, the students are able to try on their own.

"We're having a bunch of fun, as you can see," third grade student Annabella Williams said.

Williams is one of dozens who got to try to stay off the ground on an obstacle course, make it up a warped wall, or -- Annabella's favorite -- a zip line.

"It like swings really fast, but you have to jump onto the rope for it to go really fast," Williams said.

Students are able to learn from some of the best, like two-time Olympic medalist, Jonathan Horton.

His gymnastics skills are on display next to the course.

He is also well versed on the course, having competed on eight seasons of the TV Show "American Ninja Warrior."

"Really similar to gymnastics. You know, you need to be strong. You need to be fast. You need to be fearless, in some ways, and I was like 'I can do that.'" Horton said.

At 5'2", he's the shortest person in the history of the show to ever make it to the top of the 14-foot warped wall, so he's there to lend a hand or share words of support for struggling students.

"To be able to encourage the kids, to say 'You've got this! Try it again! Don't ever give up! Try everything once.' is really cool for us," Horton said.

Around the campus, students are also taking part in jiu-jitsu, meteorology, and film making.

While the ninja warrior course isn't easy, once students are successful, it seems to make it all worth it.

"I think that's probably the coolest part is just to see them break out of their comfort zone and you can see the light bulb go off that 'Oh, I can do this.'" Horton said.

There will be a community meeting this Thursday from 5 pm -7 pm for all Madera Unified students TK-12th grade and their families at Desmond Middle School so they can see the course and give it a try, if they'd like.

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