FUEL UP TO PLAY 60

Dear Parents,

 

This year, West Side Christian Middle School students will be participating in a program called Fuel Up to Play 60.  This program is a very exciting opportunity for our school, as we learn to ‘fuel up’ with healthier foods and play 60 by being active at least one hour every day.

 

Fuel Up to Play 60 is a program founded by the National Dairy Council and NFL, in collaboration with USDA, that empowers students to take charge in making small, everyday changes at school. Students can win cool prizes, like an NFL player visit or Super Bowl tickets, for choosing good-for-you foods and getting active for at least 60 minutes every day. We want kids to make a difference not only in their lives, but also their community.

 

Fuel Up to Play 60 encourages youth to eat healthy and move more — and studies suggest that well-nourished, physically active kids can be better students.

Better nutrition, including eating a healthy breakfast each day, helps students get the nutrients they need and may help improve their academic performance. What's more, being physically active may help students improve self-esteem, cognitive function and test scores.

And with Fuel Up to Play 60, healthy students can have more fun! By participating in the program, youth have the opportunity to earn rewards and prizes. Those students who help build the program may benefit even more. In fact, researchers say peer group interaction may help to influence healthy choices, and student involvement can lead to motivation and engagement in learning.

As an education professional, school adult or parent you work every day to help your students reach their full potential and your school implement its wellness policy. Fuel Up to Play 60 gives you dynamic tools to meet these goals and supports you as you make your school a healthier place.

For Fuel Up to Play 60 to work the best, your school should have at least one Program Advisor — an adult who serves as the program's champion, engages and empowers students as they help implement the program and encourages other adults to get involved. And Program Advisors have opportunities to earn rewards, recognition and funding to make it all happen. If you are interested in being a Program Advisor, please contact Mrs. Verkaik.                                                                                                   (Taken from www.fueluptoplay60.com)

In October, middle school students will have the opportunity to apply to become part of the Student Team, which will have the responsibility to meet weekly with a Program Advisor to implement a monthly challenge for the entire middle school. These physical activity or nutrition challenges can be found in the online playbook or can be created on their own. 

Check out the website to find out more. And, please consider helping your child create a username at www.fueluptoplay60.com.

FUEL UP TO PLAY 60

The Six Steps to Success

 

Step 1: Join the League

Create a username on fueluptoplay60.com

Pledge to Fuel Up and Play 60!

 

Step 2: Build Teams

Create the Student Team

 

Step 3: Kickoff!

Hold a kick off event for all middle school students

 

Step 4: Survey the Field

Complete a School Wellness Investigation.

 

Step 5: Game Time

Earn online badges by participating in monthly physical activity or nutrition challenges

 

Step 6: Scoreboard

Submit success stories about West Side participating in Fuel Up to Play 60 on the website!

The Challenge Behind a Good PE Lesson Plan

I just so happen to pick up a February issue (yes, I know it's September) of Christian Educators Journal and read an article titled, "Christian Education: Authentic and Sticky. I was inspired after reading the ideas laid out by Dan Beerens, especially as I busily try to accomplish many, many objectives and lesson ideas in these first few weeks- while simultaneously trying to build relationships with each one of my four hundred students- all within 30 minutes time- twice a week- in the West Side Christian gym.

Why is it so hard for me to create and implement a lesson with which I'm content?

• I like "sticky" ideas: Ideas that remain or "stick" with students AFTER their time with me and their time at West Side. I like introducing and teaching new exercises, lifetime activities, and games in general that they will remember. Students crave theses sticky ideas, too.

• My students' engagement is the "fuel" I use to keep me going when I teach: "To be truthful, the issue of student engagement is a difficult area for us because if we look at it honestly, we might need to make a change to our instruction that likely means more work. Yet let us acknowledge that we also derive the most joy from our teaching when we have hit upon meaningful questions, lessons, strategies, and resources that engage our students deeply!" -Yes. That pretty much sums it up.

• I'm an over-analyzer. To see if they worked, didn't work. To see if there's something I missed. Or, most importantly, is there a better way of doing it? Have priorities of learning changed? Are there better ways of testing students' health or fitness? Do students really need to know every rule to this particular sport? "We are in a time of reconsideration of what students truly need to know, given both our access to information and the fact that some things seem not to be as important given the scope of our world today."We live in a world of constant change- not that change is ALWAYS good. But sometimes- it IS.

• I want my students to "flourish": According to Wolterstorff, flourishing is about living in harmony with God, neighbor, creation, and self. I feel that I have a big responsibility in this flourishing through the way in which I teach. Am I creating a passion for learning and creative expression? Am I creating a desire to serve? Am I creating connections they can see in their learning? Am I allowing them to become divergent thinkers as they creatively solve problems? Am I teaching them all that God has gifted them with? That God calls them to? Am I demonstrating effective life habits and spiritual disciplines? Am I teaching a desire to act morally and ethically across all aspects of life?

I love what I do- and the challenges it involves. I truly hope that I can teach my students to be "foolish" in the eyes of the world: "...by teaching our students to choose love over fear, peace over contentment, patience over irritability, kindness over neglect, generosity over selfishness, faithfulness over deceitfulness, gentleness over pride, and self control over immediate gratification."

......in just thirty minutes. :)


Oh, and have you read this yet? http://writeproject.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/selling-grace-the-future-of-christian-education/


Beerens, Dan. "Christian Education: Authentic and Sticky." Christian Educators Journal (2013): 4-7. Print.

And We're Back!

It's so good to be back.

Walking into school seeing all of those familiar, smiling faces definitely beats last year's attempt at getting to know everyone all at once and being the "new" teacher. :)


To start off the year, I shared this information with my middle school students through a newsletter:

In 2009, 1,375 physical educators participated in an online survey for NASPE, the National Association of Sport and Physical Education. This survey explored key aspects of PE programs in our nation’s schools.

For nearly 50% of these educators, the primary focus of their PE program is “health-related fitness,” followed by “motor skills and movement forms” (33%), “personal and social responsibility” (12%) and “preparation for sport participation” (6%).

When asked to rate each on importance for a middle school setting, physical educators prioritized “health-related fitness” as most important (87%) and “preparation for sport participation” as least important (25%).

So, is WSCS part of this “new PE”? I’d like to say so. But please don’t be mistaken, I love many traditional and non-traditional sports. But teaching sports is not my sole purpose and PE class is not sports practice. My job is to use sports among other activities to encourage lifetime physical activity. My responsibility is to give each student the necessary tools to feel confident in their skills, feel knowledgeable in their personal health, and become attracted to some new activities that they can use after their time at WSCS.

The National Standards for Physical Education are listed in the top left corner of this newsletter. As we go throughout this year, I encourage you to ask your kids what activities, exercises, worksheets, or sports they are participating in. My goal is to address all five standards throughout a variety of fun and engaging activity.

I am blessed to be able to call this my job. I look forward to teaching, challenging, and encouraging each student this year as we dive into our own “new PE”.

After our discussion, we reviewed expectations, assignments, and opportunities they will have this year. We then jumped into some cooperative team challenges:

1) Zig Zag Team Toss
2) Group Juggling
3) Team Mat Challenges

2nd-5th grades also reviewed expectations and rules, discussed what P.E. stands for, and started some fun team challenges that encouraged following directions and encouragement like:

1) Space Invaders
2) Shipwreck
3) Team Juggle
4) Fitness/Exercise Stations



Once each class learns how to work together cooperatively in an encouraging way, we will jump into our first units, Fitness Testing for 4th-8th, Aerobic Fitness for 3rd, and Body Parts/Actions/Planes for 2nd.