May 12th, 2018
21st Century Classroom
THE URGE TO WALK AND BIKE IS BACK
By Mitch Craib
Special to the Messenger
With the arrival of May, and some truly springtime conditions, two annual exercise initiatives are underway at St. Albans City School. The first is a one-month-long walking contest. The learning community with the most laps around our half mile gravel walking path earns an hour of lifeguard supervised swimming pool time at the end of the school year. The second connects our year-round “Walking Wednesdays” program to another one-month-long pool party competition. The learning community with the greatest walk and bike to school participation on four specific Wednesdays also wins an hour of time at the pool. We have tried out variations of these walk/bike competitions for the last five years, usually with good success.
The walking contest on school property comes at the right time of year for students to be receptive to the idea of completing multiple walking and running laps. The leaves are popping out, the grass is brilliant green and T-shirts and shorts can finally be worn outside. Students who spent many indoor days due to frigid and icy conditions revel in the freedom to move. Combine that itch to be outside with the draw of friendly competition, and it is amazing to see how much ground certain students and communities can cover over the course of a month.
The Walking Wednesday participation contest is equally interesting and intense. Since 2013 we have worked hard to establish a culture of walking and biking to school and it is gradually happening. Many students, particularly in grades 3 through 8 are walking, pedaling and scootering to school. The biggest turnouts are understandably on organized Wednesday events, but more than 10 percent of our students get here on their own on other days and in all kinds of weather. Students are gradually seeing the social and health benefits of these kinds of exercise. But back to the “Walking Wednesday” contest. Some learning communities feel that their participation on “Walking Wednesdays” is their best avenue for being competitive in the pool party contests. Team Triumph, for example got 43 of its 61 students walking this past Wednesday. That is an impressive turnout in a city where we have free busing, parents who genuinely worry about the safety of their children and when many families are willing to drive kids to and from school.
Our school has a number of goals associated with these walking and biking contests. We want our students to be healthier and able to reach the recommended 60 minutes of moderately vigorous exercise we all need per day. We want students to feel good socially and these organized events generally facilitate that. We want our students to be learning ready when they get to school and studies show that modest amounts of exercise, like walking to school or taking a 15 minute exercise break, can do that.
We see media celebration of participation in our exercise events as a way to maintain and increase participation over time. We keep records of our participation numbers and laps and we report the descriptive numbers so that everyone knows how things are going. We note which teams and students have done amazingly well. We take pictures of our students and high-achieving learning communities to highlight in our school announcements and on our Facebook page. Our students and staff feel proud of being a part of a movement to exercise happily and more often. Fortunately, the joyous springtime weather of May makes it easy to join in.
Mitch Craib is the stewardship coordinator at St. Albans City School.
THE URGE TO WALK AND BIKE IS BACK
By Mitch Craib
Special to the Messenger
With the arrival of May, and some truly springtime conditions, two annual exercise initiatives are underway at St. Albans City School. The first is a one-month-long walking contest. The learning community with the most laps around our half mile gravel walking path earns an hour of lifeguard supervised swimming pool time at the end of the school year. The second connects our year-round “Walking Wednesdays” program to another one-month-long pool party competition. The learning community with the greatest walk and bike to school participation on four specific Wednesdays also wins an hour of time at the pool. We have tried out variations of these walk/bike competitions for the last five years, usually with good success.
The walking contest on school property comes at the right time of year for students to be receptive to the idea of completing multiple walking and running laps. The leaves are popping out, the grass is brilliant green and T-shirts and shorts can finally be worn outside. Students who spent many indoor days due to frigid and icy conditions revel in the freedom to move. Combine that itch to be outside with the draw of friendly competition, and it is amazing to see how much ground certain students and communities can cover over the course of a month.
The Walking Wednesday participation contest is equally interesting and intense. Since 2013 we have worked hard to establish a culture of walking and biking to school and it is gradually happening. Many students, particularly in grades 3 through 8 are walking, pedaling and scootering to school. The biggest turnouts are understandably on organized Wednesday events, but more than 10 percent of our students get here on their own on other days and in all kinds of weather. Students are gradually seeing the social and health benefits of these kinds of exercise. But back to the “Walking Wednesday” contest. Some learning communities feel that their participation on “Walking Wednesdays” is their best avenue for being competitive in the pool party contests. Team Triumph, for example got 43 of its 61 students walking this past Wednesday. That is an impressive turnout in a city where we have free busing, parents who genuinely worry about the safety of their children and when many families are willing to drive kids to and from school.
Our school has a number of goals associated with these walking and biking contests. We want our students to be healthier and able to reach the recommended 60 minutes of moderately vigorous exercise we all need per day. We want students to feel good socially and these organized events generally facilitate that. We want our students to be learning ready when they get to school and studies show that modest amounts of exercise, like walking to school or taking a 15 minute exercise break, can do that.
We see media celebration of participation in our exercise events as a way to maintain and increase participation over time. We keep records of our participation numbers and laps and we report the descriptive numbers so that everyone knows how things are going. We note which teams and students have done amazingly well. We take pictures of our students and high-achieving learning communities to highlight in our school announcements and on our Facebook page. Our students and staff feel proud of being a part of a movement to exercise happily and more often. Fortunately, the joyous springtime weather of May makes it easy to join in.
Mitch Craib is the stewardship coordinator at St. Albans City School.