Students Get Energized for Learning
Reno, NV (March 21, 2011) - Tracy Wolf is on a fitness mission to teach students the importance of developing healthy lifestyle habits. The Shaw Middle School physical education (PE) teacher instructs more than 150 students daily in her PE classes and is also the chairperson of the WCSD K-8 PE and Wellness Initiative Committee. The committee meets once a month and has set goals to help motivate and support teachers, children and families in the District to adopt active lifestyles.
"It's my passion. I strive to provide the best quality PE lessons so students will experience a variety of physical activities and be able to make lifelong choices. During class the other day, after the students returned from a run, they took their own heart rates. I was thrilled to see my students using the knowledge from a previous lesson and apply it to the activity. All students need to understand the importance of 60 minutes of daily physical activity to help prevent obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and other life-threatening diseases," Wolf said.
Wolf's goal is to get every school in the District signed up with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a nonprofit founded in 2005 by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. The organization works to address one of the nation's leading public health threats - childhood obesity.
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the K-8 PE and Wellness Committee are working together to provide innovative ways to keep our children physically fit. One example is weekly 'Energizers', which are quick activities to get students moving twice a day in the classroom. These are being sent to the elementary and middle schools on a weekly basis.
The District's student activities coordinator, Ken Cass, says the 'Energizers' are one of many programs being offered to get students moving. "We know how important the correlation is between learning and physical activity. Even though there is not an allocation for a PE teacher in the elementary schools at WCSD, there are great programs going on districtwide that are benefiting our students. It's all part of our ongoing work with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation Healthy Schools Program, which takes a comprehensive approach to student health by focusing on the promotion of physical activity, nutritious eating and health education."
At the beginning of the 2010-11 school year, eight schools from the McQueen area joined the Alliance's pilot program, which included professional development for staff, assessing the school environment and identifying best practices that were not currently in place.
The Lincy Foundation has been funding the Alliance's work in Nevada since 2009. Through this funding, three schools have been able to secure $2,500 grants from the Alliance to support their efforts.
The Nevada relationship manager for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Ben Schmauss, says he looks forward to expanding the Healthy Schools Program to every school in the WCSD in years to come. "I've really enjoyed working with the schools in Washoe County to get their students and staff focused on the importance of health and wellness," said Schmauss. "Whether it is incorporating physical activity into the classroom, providing healthy snack options or improving before and after school opportunities, these schools are all identifying what are 'best practices' and working toward implementing these practices on their campuses."
Wolf says the goal of the K-8 PE and Wellness committee is to have more
schools sign up for the Alliance's program by this spring and next fall.
"We are implementing programs that don't cost money, but in the end
helps our students with academics."
Anyone can join the Alliance's Healthy Schools Program online at HealthierGeneration.org and receive access to an abundance of resources free of charge.
