During the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2011, the ground shook under the feet of more than 2,000 elementary and middle school students.

The students were participating in a global effort to set a Guinness World Record for the most people doing jumping jacks for a full minute within a 24-hour period. According to the recently released Guinness totals, 300,265 jumpers participated worldwide in the Let's Jump! event.

Buffie Hamil, programs and facilities coordinator for Dawson County Parks and Recreation, coordinated the event for Dawson County students.

"A lot of kids do not exercise enough. We want to get as many kids in Dawson County exercising as possible," Hamil said.

With Let's Jump! the students were able to start the school day recognizing the fun and importance of exercise.

Let's Jump!, which is sponsored by National Geographic Kids and National Recreation and Parks Association, is a part of the Let's Move! initiative that encourages children to live healthy lives by engaging in frequent physical activity.

In the next month Black's Mill Elementary, Dawson County Middle, Kilough Elementary, Riverview Elementary, Riverview Middle and Robinson Elementary will all be recognized with a certificate for participating in the event.

In the wake of the event's success Dawson County is trying to plan more local fitness initiative's for youth.