The Best Parts of My Week! 5/21/12--5/25/12

Hi everyone,
     What an exciting week!  Summer is quickly approaching but we have many special events yet to come!

.....Exercise Ernie spent the weekend in Buffalo at a NYS Gymnastics Championship!  I had a great time looking at pictures of his adventure!  It's so amazing when others have so much fun with our special bears too!

.....Fitness Frankie spent the weekend in Florida at an Ironman competition!  Our director of PE, Health, and Athletics took him on this amazing journey!  I am looking forward to seeing some pictures and hearing more about his amazing adventure!

.....One of our teachers came to see me this week and told me that her daughter, who goes to another school in a different district, politely corrected an adult in her building when Physical Education was referred to as "GYM".  Her daughter has visited our school on several occasions, and has even participated in some of our events.  I told her how proud I was of her daughter!  We call Physical Education "PE" here at North Park and I was thrilled that her daughter knew this and received the message that PE is not GYM!  My colleague commented that she must have the "North Park Vibe"!  I responded that it was a great vibe to have!

.....We have been fortunate to receive a Fuel Up to Play 60 grant through the efforts of our Food Service Director and many others here at North Park.  We are busy planning our first-ever Family Fitness Night and this week I had the pleasure of meeting with some chefs from the Culinary Institute of America!  They will be teaching our families how to create a healthy snack and will also be back to North Park to teach all of our students all about healthy snacks during a day-long visit!  It was so great to meet them both!  They are so enthusiastic and knowledgeable.  I can't wait to taste their healthy creations!  What a great resource to have in our own backyard!

.....While finishing some Yoga activities with my primary students this week, several students commented that Yoga helps them get better at karate, basketball, and dance!  What a great connection!

Thanks for reading about the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website if you would like more information about the PE program at North Park!

The Best Parts of My Week! 5/14/12--5/18/12

Hi Everyone,
     It was a busy week chock full of best parts!

.....When my primary students walked into the gymnasium this week and saw the Yoga mats on the floor, they exclaimed:  "YES!  One of the activities we do for our Yoga unit involves a breathing and relaxation activity.  When we got to that part of the lesson, one of the students said:  I LOVE this one!"  It was great to see the students relaxing and enjoying the benefits of Yoga!  One of our second grade classrooms has a class mascot:  Bono the stuffed monkey.  Bono attends every PE class and he participated in Yoga with one of the students!  He had a great time too!  During the week one of the primary teachers told me that one of her students noticed that she was stressed and suggested that she do some Yoga to breathe and relax!  She told her teacher that it would make her feel better! 

.....Our Operation Healthy North Park project continues through the month of May.  This week I spent time hanging up the"Coop Cars" that students, staff, and families submit when they have exercised.  It was great to read the many different activities that participants are engaging in!  This project has grown over the years to include staff and community from across our district and this year we have had participation from our school alumni who have moved on to middle school!

.....One of my students this week asked me how fast the fastest human could run. I did not know the answer, but I told him that I would research it to find out.  I found out the answer:  27.79 mph, and told him the next day.  He was impressed!  I was impressed that he was interested enough to ask the question!

.....During a warm-up activity this week a class of third graders was jumping rope.  One student came over to me to say:  "I've made a lot of progress jumping rope since kindergarten!"  What a great observation!

.....Our school is fortunate to have received a Fuel Up to Play 60 Grant through the efforts of our Food Service Director and our staff.  This week we held our monthly North Park Healthy Highway assembly and announced the grant.  Our students were very excited and learned that we would be holding our first ever Family Fitness Night and that we would also be hosting chefs from the Culinary Institute that would be teaching us how to make healthy snacks!  We told the students that the "60" means that we should play 60 minutes per day and we encouraged students to pledge to do so.  Right after the assembly one of my students added up the minutes of exercise for that day and decided that PE (35 minutes), Recess (20 minutes) and our Healthy Highway Dance at the assembly (5 minutes) added up to 60!  It was great to see that the message was received!

.....As I have mentioned previously, staff are invited to take Fitness Frankie and Exercise Ernie on different adventures during the month of May to celebrate National Physical Fitness Month.  This weekend, Exercise Ernie was off to Buffalo for a gymnastics championship and Fitness Frankie was off to Florida to watch an Ironman competition!  How cool is that!  I can't wait to hear about their adventures! 

The Best Parts of My Week! 5/7/12--5/11/12

Hi everyone,
     As the year winds down, the special events wind up!  It was a terrific week!

.....This week was Teacher Appreciation Week and while our PTA always does a wonderful job making us feel appreciated the whole year through, there were some extra special events this week that made us feel even more appreciated!  The week began with breakfast for all and then students and parents brought in small tokens of appreciation during the week based on a particular letter for the day.  At the end of the week we were treated to a delicious luncheon, flowers, and raffles!  We appreciate all that our PTA does for our staff and our students!  THANK YOU!

.....As I was passing a student in the hallway coming back from lunch, she showed me her carrots that she was saving for later.  She said:  "Carrots!  Healthy and Yummy!"

.....Peter, Paul, and George, of Homespun Dance are a wonderful dance group that bring community dancing to many, many schools and communities.  This week we were treated to their live music, dancing, and knowledge of dances throughout the world from times past.  Our PTA generously funds this event as an enrichment program for our students and each year that we are able to invite them back, they enrich the lives of our students, teachers, and families!  Our students were completely engaged and mesmerized from the moment they arrived for their turn to dance!  We culminated the week with a Family Dance Night on Friday night and we had our biggest turnout ever! Students and families from all grade levels were represented and we had so much fun dancing that it was hard to stop!

.....As the week drew to a close, many students were making gifts for their moms in preparation for Mother's Day.  I was touched by how many students wished me a Happy Mother's Day with a smile and a hug!

Thanks for reading about the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website if you would like more information about the PE program at North Park!

The Best Parts of My Week! - 4/30/12-5/4/12

Hi everyone,

It was an exciting week of fun and fitness!

.....Fitness Frankie and Exercise Ernie spent last week in "The Body Shop", aka the Health Office.  Our school nurse is wonderful and she took great care of them!  She wrote a terrific journal entry for their blog all about the importance of washing your hands and eating breakfast!  I had the pleasure of reading it during morning announcements on Monday!  You can read it by visiting The Adventures of Fitness Frankie and Friends!

.....Since May 1-7 is National Physical Education and Sport Week and May is National Physical Fitness Month, we kicked off the beginning of the month with a project that I call "Operation Healthy North Park".  During this project, students and adults are encouraged be active and make healthy choices and can turn in one "Coop Car" (The theme car for Healthy Highway, which we have adopted!) each day that they are physically active for at least twenty minutes.  This is the eleventh year of the project and it has grown to include many of our administrators, district employees outside of my school, and community members!  We display the completed "Coop Cars" on a bulletin board in the hallway and it has been fun to hang them up and have everyone notice them!  We are off to a great start!  A parent told me this week all about their family exercise plan and about how Operation Healthy North Park motivates them to exercise more!  You can participate too!  Download the information by clicking Operation Healthy North Park!

.....Fitness Frankie and Exercise Ernie have enjoyed spending time in our classrooms, but during May I invite the adults to take them home and create a healthy adventure!  They have so many offers for "play dates" that I have to keep a separate calendar just for them! :-)

.....On Wednesday afternoon we participated in Project ACES (All Children Exercising Simultaneously). This is a nationwide project started by Len Saunders.  I found some old pictures of the very first year that we participated in Project ACES - 1989!  It was fun passing them around to some of our staff who were in attendance and younger staff who were not!  During Project ACES the entire school community goes outside to our beautiful field and I lead them all in some dances and other silly and fun activities.  We had a blast!  It was so amazing to see more than 360 students and adults exercising and smiling!  On the way back inside every single fifth grader in one of our classes gave me a high five!  Click Project ACES at North Park for pictures of our event!

.....We have also begun fitness testing in our upper elementary classes.  Students complete the FitnessGram test which includes the PACER; a test of aerobic fitness.   Students challenge themselves to run and do their best while completing laps in the gym to a particular pace.  We make a point of telling students that the fitness test is not about BEING the best, it is about DOING your best.  It seems that students took this to heart as they congratulated each other with high fives after completing the test, regardless of the number of laps completed!  It was so amazing to watch this great sportsmanship unfold.  I told them how proud I was of their behavior and they smiled in agreement!

Thanks for reading about the "Best Parts of My Week!"

Visit the North Park PE website if you would like more information about the PE program at North Park!