The school years are generally the best time to instill some healthy habits and elementary students across Red Deer are doing just that these days.
Schools like Mattie McCullough have been creating fitness stations in the gymnasium so the students can build their fundamental movement skills in a fun way. Sort of putting the fun in fundamental.
“We were given a grant from the Primary Care Network and that gave us money to purchase some equipment for the fitness stations, “ said Phys. Ed teacher Kelly Roslinsky.
The students get at least 30 minutes of activity each day anyway and this circuit is set up a few times each month to add a little more activity to get kids out from their desks and burning off some energy.
The stations vary but the end goal is the same. Get them moving and get as many students as possible involved.
“A lot of them, we’re just going back to the basics, working on jumping, catching, throwing. Just basic movement from side to side, core strength. Just a lot of the basic movements they don’t get watching TV or playing their video games,” said Roslinsky.
The students go hard at each station for a short period of time so there’s not much sitting around going on during the half hour, she said.
“Well I think there’s enough activities that there’s something that interests them and they know that if they’re at a station they don’t love it’s only for a short time and they make the best of it and they move on.”
Some of the students are actually volunteers and make up the Ever Active Team and it’s their job to create fun activities for the whole school to take part in while absorbing some healthy knowledge.
So the focus for these healthy lifestyle ambassadors is fun activities for the entire population at their school and getting the word out about healthy eating habits on top of that, said Roslinsky.
Judging from the commotion going on in the Mattie McCullough gym that day, it appears the message is getting through loud and clear.
“It’s actually pretty exciting that they will keep moving for the entire time and then at the end of the class their cheeks are rosy and they’re breathing a little harder than when they started so they’re definitely getting something out of it.”
sports@reddeerexpress.com
