• Recently, Redskins tight end, Chris Cooley, visited the BOKS program at Orr Elementary in Washington D.C.  The kids loved it!  Check out the article from Washington Post Express:  http://www.expressnightout.com/2012/04/moving-in-the-morning/
• Members of the BOKS team went to Memphis, Tennessee, to train over 50 P.E. teachers.
• BOKS visited St. Jude’s Hospital to tour the facilities in the hope of collaborating with them to create a program for patients and their siblings.

BREAKING NEWS

• We are excited to announce that BOKS was awarded $150,000 over 3 years by The Boston Foundation.  These funds will be used to expand the program in Boston Public Schools.
• Keep an eye out for BOKS on CNN’s Starting Point and Live! with Kelly the morning of May 16th.
• On May 19th, come visit BOKS at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer at Reebok World Headquarters in Canton, MA.  BOKS will have an obstacle course from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm for kids to enjoy somefun  physical activity while cheering on walkers finishing Day One!  This event is FREE.

FUN STUFF

• Try out a new game:  Asteroid.  The objective is to have Team Asteroid roll their foam ball and hit Team Planet’s soccer ball.    All you need is 1 soccer ball (planet) and 1 foam ball (asteroid).  To play the game you need to divide into two even teams:  Planet and Asteroid.  Team Planet controls their ball by kicking it around, keeping it from Team Asteroid.  Team Asteroid players cannot take any steps with their ball. Instead, they must pass it to teammates, trying to get it in the hands of a player close enough to the planet for a shot.  When the foam ball hits the soccer ball or after 2-3 minutes, switch the teams.

REMINDERS

• May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month per President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition and AAHPERD.
• As the school year and BOKS sessions are winding down, remember to get your surveys done.
• Stay in touch with BOKS – “like” us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/boks) and follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/bokskids)  for updates and great articles throughout the session!
• Send us your news articles and fun updates about BOKS so we can give you a shout out on Facebook.

In Illinois, 30 minutes of physical activity is required daily in school, but only two days a week do those 30-minute sessions have to be under the direction of a physical education teacher. Classroom teachers are required to work 30 minutes of physical activity into their routine the other three days.

Illinois school districts can ask the state for short-term waivers so they do not have to provide physical education daily, said Mary Fergus, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education.

“The most common reason districts are seeking that waiver is a lack of space. They may have a gym, but that gym also serves as a place where the kids have lunch – a multi-purpose room,’’ said Fergus, adding that mandated daily P.E. for kindergarten through 12th-grade students became a state law in 1957.

In 2008, the state changed the law to limit the amount of waivers a district can ask for, now allowing for an initial two-year waiver and then no more than two two-year renewals, Fergus said.

There is no arguing the benefits of providing physical activity to kids in school, Fergus said, citing overall health and increased learning as just a few. And national and state campaigns are cropping up to get kids moving and get schools and families involved.

“There are just a number of initiatives aimed at trying to increase activity and increase nutrition in schools and even out of schools,’’ Fergus said.

Let’s Move in School, an initiative sponsored in part by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, aims to increase physical activity for children before, during and after school, said Paula Kun, senior director of communications for the association, which is the only national education association for physical education teachers. The program is an offshoot of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign.

“We’re trying to encourage schools to do this,’’ Kun said, adding that federal guidelines require 60 minutes of physical activity each day.

According to the Let’s Move web site, one in three children are overweight, with too much snacking and cutting back on time spent in gym class contributing factors.

Providing 60 minutes of daily activity under the Let’s Move in School program is done through a comprehensive program that includes physical education, physical activity during the school day, activity before and after school, staff involvement and family and community involvement.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s HealthierUS Schools Challenge also challenged schools to increase physical activity and nutrition by implementing programs that encourage a healthier lifestyle.

“Our P.E. teacher incorporates talking about exercises and the importance of exercise in all of her P.E. classes – and the importance of exercising at home,’’ said Rita Janus, principal of Meadowdale Elementary School in Carpentersville, which earned a gold award from the USDA for the school’s efforts. “It’s a mind-shift but, it’s gone very well.’’

The benefits to students are tremendous, she said, adding, “certainly if kids are healthy and eating well, it helps them to learn better.’’

A report by the University of Michigan on physical education in America’s public schools presents findings of a 2005 study that shows when students are involved in a physical activity there is an “improved rate of academic learning per unit of class time.”

The study also reports findings of a study done in France where a school increased its physical education time to eight hours per week, reducing the amount of academic time. The students in this experiment were physically and psychologically healthier, with increased academic performance compared to the control group.

Making sure kids stay active during the school day is vital, said Tom Ross, principal at Westwood Elementary School in Woodstock and former athletic director at Jacobs High School.

“We need to get them moving. We need to get them active,’’ Ross said. “It’s hard to sit and listen to a teacher and sit at a desk for 6½ hours.’’

But finding the time each day to provide that 30 minutes can be a struggle, he said.

“It’s just difficult to get 30 minutes in every day with the academic requirements from the state,’’ Ross said. “We’re asked to teach more and more every year.’’

Much of the students’ physical activity during the school week falls on the classroom teachers to provide, he said.

“It’s weather dependent, but teachers are going to give them 30 minutes maybe outside or inside the classroom [on the days when they don’t have P.E.],’’ Ross said.

Using stretching and movement throughout the day, between lessons, is a common tool teachers use to keep students moving, he said.

“They kind of build it into their routine daily,’’ he said.

It’s not entirely clear why active students perform better. Some speculate that increased oxygen flow to the brain stimulates learning. Others argue that exercise helps students burn off excess energy so they can focus better in class. Scientists will continue to explore the “why,” but the “what” is now settled. Exercise boosts academic achievement – case closed.

This finding won’t come as news to California teachers, who have consistently reported that students concentrate better and have fewer behavioral problems in classes following a physical education or recess period. It’s also nothing new to the California Department of Education, which launched Team California for Healthy Kids last year to focus on boosting exercise and nutrition in schools. And it won’t surprise California voters, either. According to a November 2011 survey conducted by the respected Field Poll, three-quarters of Californians agree that increasing physical activity would improve academic performance in schools.

Against this backdrop, you might expect that principals and district superintendents would be clamoring to add physical activity to their daily schedules. In fact, California schools are moving in the opposite direction. Today, fewer than half of all school districts meet the state requirement to provide elementary school students with 200 minutes of quality physical education every 10 days (just 20 minutes each day!). High schools fare even worse.

It’s not just academic performance that suffers from inactivity. Lack of exercise has serious health consequences for children and adults, increasing risk for diabetes, obesity, hypertension and many other serious chronic diseases. Over the long run, we all pay a steep price for inactivity: higher health care costs, increased absenteeism and reduced economic productivity.

It’s no secret why physical activity in schools has taken such a hit. To meet California’s tough achievement standards, many principals and district superintendents felt pressured to prioritize academic instruction over physical education and recess. They thought maximizing classroom time was the best strategy for increasing test scores. Their hearts were in the right place, but their prescription has now been proven wrong.

It’s time for California schools to chart a new path, encouraging students to move throughout the day, starting before the morning bell rings, continuing through quality physical education and recess breaks, and ending with active after-school programs that enrich our children’s bodies and minds. We can make health happen in schools. We have the knowledge and resources to make our schools the most active in the nation, and nothing less should be our goal.

Throughout our state, individual schools and school districts have developed outstanding models to follow. Some begin the day with voluntary before-school exercise clubs, so students who arrive early can get a healthy workout, instead of hanging around while waiting for first bell. Others have experimented with “Instant Recess,” one- to two-minute activity breaks peppered throughout the day that help students burn off a few calories, while clearing their minds to focus on the classroom. Yet another promising approach is integrating physical activity into traditional academic lessons. For example, exercise can demonstrate how the circulatory and respiratory systems function, and individual fitness improvements can be tracked and recorded on school computers for lessons in mathematics and computer science. And all districts should work to improve their physical education classes, so students spend more time moving and less time sitting around.

Parents can help by planning fun and active outings for their families on the weekends, and by telling school leaders that increasing activity is important to them. When all our state’s education leaders heed parents’ request and embrace the reality that physical activity and academic achievement go hand-in-hand, our children will be on a path toward greater success in school and improved health throughout their lives.

Torlakson is California’s superintendent of public instruction. Ross, M.D., is president & CEO of The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation.

Among the children, 74.9% were considered normal weight, 17.7% were overweight, and 7.4% were obese. Overall boys were substantially more active than girls.

The more moderate to vigorous activity the kids got, the better their health outcomes, such as smaller waist circumferences and lower levels of blood pressure and triglycerides, despite the amount of time they spent sedentary.

Those in the top third of activity levels got more than 35 minutes a day of exercise, while those in the lower third got less than 18 minutes a day. A 10-minute difference in exercise time was linked with a waist circumference difference of about 0.5 cm.

The authors wrote that although children should be encouraged to spend more time active, the time they spend sedentary shouldn’t be ignored. “Decreasing TV time in youth may still be an important public health goal as TV viewing may be associated with other unhealthy behaviors such as snacking and soft drink consumption,” they said. “TV viewing is also associated with exposure to advertisements that often promote unhealthy dietary habits.”

The study was published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

“According to the best-evidence synthesis, we found strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance,” they wrote.

Even before the research was done, area educators understood the effects exercise can have on young children, both physically and mentally.

“It’s incredibly important,” Sunnyside Elementary School Principal Patti Roberts said. “In fact, it is of great benefit to them developmentally. We notice with having physically active kids at noon hour, when they come back in from recess they’re able to calm down better.”

In 2010, Sunnyside and Live Healthy Red Wing implemented “Sunnyside Sneakers,” a weekly event that tries to get students to walk or bike to school on Wednesdays.

While the elementary school is creating programs to encourage physical activity, one specific Red Wing school doesn’t have to try quite as hard.

“We are at such an advantage,” Sunshine Corner preschool teacher Mary Niehues said.

Sunshine Corner is located inside the Red Wing Family YMCA, giving its students easy access to large gymnasiums, racquetball courts and other facilities the Y has available.

“We do something physical every day,” Niehues said, adding that they are thinking about incorporating swimming into the preschool schedule so students can make use of the pool.

For now, the kids get to run around the gymnasiums, ride bikes or scooters, climb jungle gyms and more. Sometimes Niehues will bring her students to Levee Park and play classic games such as freeze tag, “Ring Around the Rosie” and “Duck, Duck, Gray Duck,” which are enough to get them up and moving. As a result, the teacher has seen improved focus when it’s time for the kids to learn.

“Their attention span is better,” she said. “Academically, this will help them just as much as a computer.”

When encouraging physical activity, Niehues figures the younger the better. One day as she was telling her class it was time to put away their bikes and scooters, a student came up to her feeling confused.

“But my heart’s not beating fast,” he said.

“So we had to run around the gym a couple times,” Niehues explained with a laugh. “You really can teach a preschooler about the importance of exercise.”