BKE is Driven to Better Health

As we learned earlier this week, the Green and Healthy committee at Brooklyn Elementary school (BKE) has been hard at work creating wonderful stewardship-based learning opportunities for staff, students and the greater Brooklyn community. While the green aspect is key, part of being healthy is learning about proper eating and exercise habits. In fact, a recent article from the Education Psychology Review noted that “systematic exercise programs may actually enhance the development of specific types of mental processing known to be important for meeting challenges encountered both in academics and throughout the lifespan” (Tomporowski, P.D., Davis, C.L., Miller, P.H. et al., 2008).

That’s why the Green and Healthy committee is committed to creating fun, education-based exercise opportunities for the entire Brooklyn learning community. So join us as we learn about the excellent work happening at BKE!

 Move-a-Thon:

            Along the edge of the school grounds is a long line of trees that stretches out towards a corn field. Nestled in this mini wilderness is a quite walking path that has been used by students and community members for years. Though the walking path has been a staple in the community for decades, the narrow dirt path had lost its luster. As stewards of the land, Brooklyn Elementary staff and students began to brainstorm ways to bring life back to the path and increase its use by students during recess. At BKE each student is a member of a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) group called PAWS or Positive Attitude + Hard Work = Success. Since PAWS coordinators and students meet on a regular basis to work on initiatives that help to bring positivity to the school environment, the meetings served as a perfect opportunity to brainstorm ideas. At the end of the day PAWS groups decided that a parcourse, which is a series of outdoor exercise stations, would be the ideal way to bring life back to the walking path. Parcourse equipment is expensive, however, so students and staff needed to find a way to fund the project. Since the parcourse would ultimately benefit the entire community by providing a healthy and free way to exercise, PAWS groups decided that an exercise-based community fundraiser would be the perfect solution. And so, the Brooklyn Move-a-Thon was born.

The Move-a-Thon was set for an afternoon in May and students were encouraged to seek pledges from parents and community members. In return for these pledges students promised to participate in various physical activities such as a choreographed flash-mob, a mini boot camp, Wii dance party, Skip It® station, sponge tag, yoga with real instructors and more.

Thanks to help from parent volunteers and the PTO, the Move-a-Thon was a success with over 567 students participating and many gaining pledges from community members and companies whose donations were then matched by First Weber Realtors.  Shortly after the funds were in place the parcourse was installed and has served as the perfect addition to the beloved walking path.

Driven to Better Health:

A few members of the BKE Green and Healthy Team with Donald Driver

            Of course, the fun didn’t end there. The Move-a-Thon has become an annual event helping to fund elements of the garden, a salad bar and many green and healthy activities. The Move-a-Thon has also inspired participation in a number of health-related programs including Driven to Better Health.

            As we learned last week, this program is administered by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in partnership with retired Green Bay Packer Donald Driver. In general, this program encourages schools to make healthy eating and exercise habits a part of each student’s day. Participants in the program must keep an activity tracker log, complete an e-learning activity and showcase the many healthy eating and exercise programs available at the school. The Green and Healthy committee members, particularly Meghan Mapes, Meghan Multhauf and Kelly Pankratz worked hard to establish an educational newsletter, a Beat the Winter Blues Fest, a Healthy Food Challenge and the Race to Lambeau running club to showcase the school’s passion for fitness.

“I loved the Race to Lambeau last year,” Mapes said. “It was an exercise challenge that paired an older class with a younger class.  The first team to walk or run the distance to Lambeau and back (312 miles) was the winner.  It was a blast!  We all were really into it.  I have never seen so many classes out on the walking path before!  It was a ton of fun!”

Thanks to the Race to Lambeau and the many other activities led by the Green and Healthy team, BKE was named the 2016 winner of Driven to Better Health. As the winner, BKE received a special visit from retired Green Bay Packer Donald Driver in May 2016. During his visit Driver presented on the importance of health but he also made time to play football with the students, exercise at parcourse stations and plant trees in the school garden.  

Donald Driver planting a tree in the BKE garden (Photo Courtesy of BKE Green and Healthy Committee)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donald Driver enjoys a quick game of catch with BKE students (Photo Courtesy of BKE Green and Healthy Committee)

Donald Driver uses the BKE parcourse to get in a quick workout with students (Photo Courtesy of BKE Green and Healthy Committee)

“This program made our health and wellness culture and community very strong building wide,” Multhauf said. “This program made a huge impact on kids and got our school excited about health and wellness. The reward of our hard work was a visit from Donald Driver and that is a moment I know no one at BKE will ever forget. “

Winning Driven to Better Health has only increased the interest in health at BKE. In fact, Mapes says that students are already asking when the next challenge will begin.

“Students really get passionate about some of the programs we have done,” Mapes said. “I never realized how much students are sitting throughout the day until I attend a meeting where I have to be sitting and listening the whole day.  It is painful! I know that I am more engaged and participate more when I am given the chance to move, explore, communicate with others and share my ideas in ways that make sense to me. Learning is not meant to be passive. Students should be exercising and moving throughout the day in order to stay engaged and to promote overall health.”

Dream Room:

            So what’s next for BKE? This year the Green and Healthy committee is planning to create a Dream Room that would provide students with indoor exercise equipment and creative outlets that allow students to explore and learn while being physically active. The room will include yoga mats, Bosu balls and more. Though plans are in place BKE could still use help with resources for the room. If you would like to help or if you would like to become involved with any of the Green and Healthy programs at BKE, please feel free to comment below or contact me @curiouscolumnist on Facebook.  After all, we’re all a part of the Curious Community, so let’s support each other as we work to make the world a healthier and greener place.

Want to learn more?  Check out this video courtesy of the Green and Healthy committee:

https://youtu.be/I3PVrnQts9Q

Sources:

Exercise and Children’s Intelligence, Cognition, and Academic Achievement Tomporowski, P.D., Davis, C.L., Miller, P.H. et al. Educ Psychol Rev (2008) 20: 111. doi:10.1007/s10648-007-9057-0

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2748863/

Driven to Better Health: http://www.donalddriverfoundation.com/news/childrens-hospital-of-wisconsin-and-donald-driver-team-up/

The Curious Community would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at BKE for sharing their story!