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Woodbury Elementary students are “getting physical” – physical exercise, that is! Several new initiatives – The Woodbury Walking Club, The Friday Dance Crew and the Classroom Movement program – are getting students and staff up and moving.
The Woodbury Walking Club started last spring to reduce running on the blacktop before school while the soccer field was unavailable.
“The program is great!” said Eric Hunerdosse, Woodbury Learning Support Specialist. “Kids walk a circuit in the mornings and get cards punched for each lap they walk.”
When students get their punch card filled they get a reward of a string bag.
“We have a traveling trophy that goes to the room that does the most laps in a two week period of time,” he said.
Eric also helped form the Woodbury Friday Dance Crew. Every Friday at the lunch recesses, students are invited to dance the “Interlude dance”. This active dance was started at UNI and has been performed at UNI student and sporting events.
“There are only six steps and the students love jumping around to the beat of the music,” Eric said. The whole school did the dance at the October assembly to promote movement and good health.
PE teacher Don Wiser presented a program to the Woodbury staff on creative movement to help promote student achievement. According to Wiser, movement helps grow new brain cells in the student’s brain. Wiser developed the program as part of a class he took last summer. He introduced the program to Hoglan and Anson elementary staff as well. Teachers can use the music and movement in their classrooms for 2-3 minutes to give students a physical break from the school workday.
Woodbury teacher Ashley Martinez says she is enjoying using the program with her kindergarten students.
“I have been doing the new exercise activities with the kids and they are LOVING it!” she said. “The kids love pretending to jump rope and run in place, they think is a game. I can see that it helps them to focus for the next activity.”
