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3 Million Students to Move For Fitness

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More than 3 million students representing over 4,200 schools across the United States participated in Let’s Move in School in celebration of National Physical Education and Sports Week.

A nationwide initiative to increase physical activity before, during and after school, Let’s Move in School follows the lead of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign and is sponsored by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance(AAHPERD). Celebrities like former American idol contestants Nikko Smith and Aloha Mischeaux join education officials including President of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education Dennis Docheff in highlighting the importance of physical activity in schools.

“Although it has been established by research that a minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity a day is essential for student health and academic performance, we are challenged with howto offer adequate physical education and physical activity in the face of other education demands,” said Brad Strand, AAHPERD President. “Let’s Move in School provides a cohesive message along with tools and resources to implement a comprehensive school physical activity program.”

Key events in May included:

  • Over 30,000 Miami-Dade County Public School students joined the Beyonce “Let’s Move! Flash Workout.” 
  • Physical education teacher Peggy Chappuis and her students at Eastgate Elementary School in East Helena, MT Skyped her Morning Moves routine to the students of Lana Peterson-Pressler at Rousseau Elementary School in Lincoln, NE.
  • Port Matilda Elementary School in Port Matilda, PA, winner of the Let’s Move in School drawing with the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, hosted a community walk-a-thon. 
  • Over 2,900 third-graders and about 350 high school kids participated in the annual Kansas Kids Fitness Day in Wichita.

With physical education instruction as the cornerstone, a comprehensive school physical activity program enables students to practice and apply movement skills in a culture of active learning. These “active outlets” include morning announcements, classroom activity breaks, integration of activity into classroom lessons, recess, activity clubs, walk to school programs and intramural and interscholastic sports.

Let’s Move in Schoolbrings together leading national and state associations, federal and corporate partners to help schools coordinate physical activity before, during and after school. Strategic partners are ASCD, American Association of School Administrators (AASA), National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), and National School Boards Association (NSBA). The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutritionserves as a federal partner along with more than 40 national nonprofits and six district and 50-state AAHPERD associations as supporters.

To find out more about the initiative and access promotional videos and tools, visit LetsMoveInSchool.org.


Article by Jason Tomaszewski, EducationWorld Associate Editor
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