Lined up in the Rindge Memorial School gymnasium, young students learn to stretch, strike with a tiger claw or dragon fist and the basics of karate, under the tutelage of Elizabeth Kenny of Jaffrey.

Every Wednesday after school, the Rindge Recreation Department runs the program for Rindge Memorial School students. It’s a long-running program for the Recreation Department, having originally started 35 years ago, when it was run by Kenny’s father, Ed Budd.

“It’s great for confidence-building, developing core strength, and cross-training. It trains you to do anything you want to do, because we’re training body awareness,” Kenny said during a recent session in the RMS gym.

In addition to running the Recreation Department program, Kenny also owns Kenny’s Tae Kwon Do in Jaffrey, which provides martial arts lessons for children as young as 3 or 4 to adults.

Some of Kenny’s RMS karate students also attend her tae kwon do dojo and participate in one of her competition teams, but Kenny said at its core, the recreation program is about teaching the basics, getting some exercise and having fun.

The children who attend Kenny’s session are at different points in their learning, and all participate in the same class, at their own levels.

“It is custom to where that student is, but they’re all learning the basic kicks and strikes. It gets them moving and exercising,” Kenny said.

The Recreation Department program is held right after school on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. It is open to Rindge Memorial School students, or kindergarten-age children on a case-by-case basis. The cost is $10 per class, and registration is monthly. For information or to sign up, visit rindge.recdesk.com, call 603-899-6847, Ext. 15, or send email to sports@rindgenh.gov. The December session will only have two classes, on Dec. 4 and Dec. 18.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.