And the winning chomp is …

By April Frawley Birdwell

UF College of Nursing students helped girls from the Girls Place in Gainesville produce the winning video in the Shands at UF Chompetition.

They say it takes a true Gator to know how to chomp.

With handmade orange and blue shirts and some sassy dance moves, the girls from the Girls Place in Gainesville chomped to win in Shands at UF’s recent Chompetition, which asked people to make videos set to the song “Do the Chomp.”

The chompetition may have been fierce, but the Girls Place team managed to snag the top prize — a trip to the final UF home game Nov. 20 and a chance to see their video on the Jumbotron — with a little help from some friends in the UF College of Nursing.

A group of UF nursing students came up with the idea as a fun activity that also would allow the girls to work together to plan and collaborate on a project.

“It really challenged them to use teamwork to design this creative video,” said Courtney Yamber, a B.S.N. student in the College of Nursing. “All the girls chipped in and really made this their project. As we filmed, it was wonderful to see each girl’s confidence rise.”

The nursing students helped the girls choreograph, edit and submit the video with the guidance of their instructor Cathy Levonian, Ph.D., R.N., a clinical assistant professor in community health nursing.

“The staff and directors of Girls Place are most grateful to UF nursing professor Cathy Levonian and her students for choreographing and filming the video,” said Renae Clements, Girls Place executive director. “The project was a healthy exercise for the girls.”

To see the winning video, click here. To view all the Chompetition video entries, visit youtube.com and type “Shands Chomp 2010” in the search field. Another Chompetition is in the works for basketball season.