JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Just in time for spring, Missouri may be getting an official state exercise: the jumping jack.
A measure sponsored by House Democrat Pat Conway, of St. Joseph, has passed the House and is now moving through the Senate to make the jumping jack an official part of the state's identity.
Students from Pershing Elementary School in St. Joseph have promoted the initiative, even appearing at hearings in the Capitol in support of the idea.
Many Missouri streets and schools are named for Missouri-born Army General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, who is credited with inventing jumping jacks as a training drill for cadets when he taught at West Point in the late 1800s.
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Jumping jacks bill is HB1063
Online:
Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov