It looks and sounds chaotic, more than two-dozen second graders racing back and forth across the playground before school. But there's reason to the raucousness, according to Knox College students on the men's and women's tennis teams who are helping with BOKS -- Build Our Kids Success -- a before-school fitness program.

"We convince the kids that that we're just playing and having fun, but we're targeting specific things," says Miranda Corbett, a member of the women's tennis team who has participated in the program since the school year began in September. "We can already tell, they're improving a lot, based on practicing the skills every day."

Corbett and more than a dozen women's and men's team members rolled out early, three days a week, and carpooled to Gale School in Galesburg to lead the activities with the grade school kids.

"Even as a college student, it's nice to wake up a little bit early and get moving," says Karl Ruzgas. "It's nice to see all the happy faces early in the morning. It gets my blood flowing, and it gets the kids heart rates up."

Getting kids more active in school also benefits book-learning, according to Miriam Skrade, head tennis coach at Knox, who has studied the effects of integrating physical activity into the school day.

"Short bouts of integrated physical activity in math, improves academic performance on a timed comprehensive math test significantly more than traditional classes," Skrade wrote in her master's thesis, describing research she conducted in 2013 at Iowa State University. Skrade and Sarah Day-O'Connell, associate professor of music at Knox, wrote a proposal for a $1,000 grant provided by the non-profit foundation of Reebok.

Competitive athletes are happy to work with kids, said Pragyaditya Mukerjee, a member of the men's team, after a recent morning session with the active eight-year-olds. "We play a sport, and we're coming here, getting them active. It's an awesome way to start off the day. We have a lot of fun seeing them interact, seeing them grow as a person."

Over the course of the fall, the Knox students and grade school kids also have become friends. "Playing games with them is always fun. They're always willing to learn something new, which is my favorite part," says Corbett. "They tell me about what they learned in school. Running around seems chaotic, but underneath all that, there's a purpose to it."

• More photos from BOKS at Gale School in Galesburg

Knox College varsity tennis players who have taken part in BOKS this fall:
Women's Team
Taytem Chapman
Miranda Corbett
Kaly Davidson
Celina Dietzel
Maggie St. Clair
Lauren Sparks

Men's Team
Rohail Khan
Ashwin Kushwaha
Pragyaditya Mukerjee
Tung Nguyen
Walter Palmer
Karolis Ruzgas
Ganesh Uppalapu
Zair Zahid