Today’s post is written by Donna Carroll, Director of Health Initiatives. It appeared in Go! Team Go! an internal publication generated by Melissa Holman, After School Program Coordinator. We thought it was too good to keep to ourselves and so we’re sharing it here with you.
Walking to Brazil may seem like a tall order but when 60 students pool their foot power, it just might be possible. Northglade Montessori Site Coordinator Derek Miller has students walking to distant places, a few steps at a time. To get his new Level 1 activity off the ground Derek ordered 60 pedometers that are assigned to fourth and fifth grade students. Students have a goal of logging 3,000 steps per day.
“This encourages kids to get more exercise,” says Derek, “which is part of being healthy, but it’s also about exercising kids brains.” Northglade students keep track of how many steps they walk over time, with lots of opportunities for using math skills. Steps can be added, converted into yards and miles, and charted on graphs. Then geography is added to the mix as students consult maps to see how far an individual student might have travelled over a period of weeks or months, and how far the total miles walked by Northglade students would stretch – to Chicago, Atlanta, perhaps Mexico City? Students get passports where they can track distances from one world city to another and learn some basic facts about other nations.
Derek is not just talking the talk. He’s walking the walk, wearing his pedometer and tracking his own steps. Last Thursday he had logged over 4,000 steps by mid-afternoon.
Derek and VISTA Donielle Hetrick are walking with students at lunchtime, in the halls and on the playground, depending on the weather.
The project was developed by Northglade’s Health Committee that includes the school staff, parents and CIS.
Tags: children's health, CIS, Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo, Derek Miller, Donielle Hetrick, Donna Carroll, health, Kalamazoo Public Schools, Melissa Holman, Northglade Montessori, pedometers, VISTA, walking
