Our 3rd Annual Health and Fitness Fair was held yesterday and it was a blast! So many people to thank in putting on a great show! We had over 20 parent volunteers, a TON of help from my 5th grade girls, and great ideas from Health and Fitness Fair teammates Susan Howard-Smith and Betsy Bell. But all the credit must be given to our presenters, as they were unbelievable.
Judo (3rd-5th): Sensei Gene Shin put on a fantastic show with our 3-5 students in the gym. The students loved it! A quick demo was followed by some entertaining warm-ups, then on to the judo, which was fantastic! Our kids wanted to go back and do a second session! I know we will have some new members at SSJ Judo in Charlottesville after this great session. Please visit www.ssjjudo.com for more information.
Zumba: Offered back-to-back with Judo, it made for the most entertaining 30 minutes of the students' day! Greta Giffen was amazing with great moves and music that had students, teachers, principals, and parent volunteers dancing, sweating, and most importantly, smiling! I don't know how she presented for 5 hours with only a short break for lunch, but she managed to be just as energetic and enthusiastic with the last group at 2:00 as she was the first one at 8:30 in the morning! Maybe we all should take more Zumba!
Whole Foods: Kristen Rabourdin and Tara from Whole Foods made some awesome Double Green Smoothies that featured so many healthy and organic or all-natural ingredients, including kale, spinach, bananas, soy milk, and more! We will be sure to post the recipe as soon as possible, because the kids loved it! Kristen spoke about the importance of healthy choices, eating WAY more than the recommended five fruits and veggies a day, and staying away from those AWFUL artificial ingredients! Kristen was very impressed with the knowledge of our great MLS students on how to stay healthy and maintain really strong immune systems. Other schools/organizations should get Kristen out to their students, as she is a valuable resource to the community.
Yoga: MLS parent sensations Brooke Donovan (3rd-5th) and Meg Janucik (K-2nd) were awesome in leading our yoga stations! MLS students were able to experience a calm and relaxing session while improving their flexibility, balance, strength, coordination, and more! We are very lucky to have such talented parents at MLS who are so willing to volunteer their time to help enrich the lives of our students. Thanks to these awesome parents who led their yoga stations for an entire session!
Energy In, Energy Out: Not only did our students get to learn how to balance the food they eat (energy in) with their daily physical activity (energy out), but they also had a healthy snack of veggies and hummus. Thanks to our cafeteria manager Ms. Tichner and her crew for leading this station.
JUMP! (2nd-5th): Another fantastic station thanks to Barbara Yager and the folks at Community Action on Obesity (CAO) as they provided a grant that enabled us to purchase great equipment that will benefit MLS PE students for years to come. While rocking out in the library to our activity break videos, students jumped away on our new equipment that included saturn balls, skip-its, and challenged themselves with adjustable lateral bar jumps. Thanks Barb and CAO!
Total Body Workout: Thanks to Barb and CAO again as another awesome station was provided by grant funds. MLS PE students worked their entire body by jumping on the mini-rebounders (lower body), balancing our our new balance boards (balance/core), and used exercise balls (core/upper body) and exercise bands (total body). All students enjoyed the new equipment while rocking out to our favorite MLS PE tunes on the stage!
Hand Washing: An all-time favorite of the MLS Health and Nutrition Fair as Ms. Howard-Smith broke out the Glo Germ Kit to show our students the effectiveness of their hand washing techniques.
Blue Ridge Poison Control: There are many unsafe household items that closely resemble foods that we may find in our homes as well, so the Blue Ridge Poison Control is a great place to go to learn about the subject.
Germ Tag (K-2nd): An awesome game we play in PE that reinforces the best ways to keep our immune systems healthy so we do not have to go to the doctors and take medicine. Here is a link to the game if you wish to play it with your class: http://bit.ly/sFD1kH
The Importance of Sleep: Last but not least, Dr. Chris Winter was AWESOME and shared many reasons why sleep is important, how much we should try to get, and told us ways we could improve our sleep! MLS PE students know that sleep is an important part of keeping our immune systems nice and strong, and Dr. Winter was nice enough to share his entire day with us as well as his vast knowledge on the subject.
Hopefully this will help other PE teachers if they wish to start their own Health Fair. It was a great collaboration between the school nurse, guidance counselor, cafeteria manager, health professionals in our community, and the PE Dept. Everything was carefully planned to include different fitness disciplines, at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise, the healthiest of snacks (no dairy or artificial ingredients), and interesting/informative topics that will help our students be healthy and stay healthy!
Yoga: MLS parent sensations Brooke Donovan (3rd-5th) and Meg Janucik (K-2nd) were awesome in leading our yoga stations! MLS students were able to experience a calm and relaxing session while improving their flexibility, balance, strength, coordination, and more! We are very lucky to have such talented parents at MLS who are so willing to volunteer their time to help enrich the lives of our students. Thanks to these awesome parents who led their yoga stations for an entire session!
Energy In, Energy Out: Not only did our students get to learn how to balance the food they eat (energy in) with their daily physical activity (energy out), but they also had a healthy snack of veggies and hummus. Thanks to our cafeteria manager Ms. Tichner and her crew for leading this station.
JUMP! (2nd-5th): Another fantastic station thanks to Barbara Yager and the folks at Community Action on Obesity (CAO) as they provided a grant that enabled us to purchase great equipment that will benefit MLS PE students for years to come. While rocking out in the library to our activity break videos, students jumped away on our new equipment that included saturn balls, skip-its, and challenged themselves with adjustable lateral bar jumps. Thanks Barb and CAO!
Total Body Workout: Thanks to Barb and CAO again as another awesome station was provided by grant funds. MLS PE students worked their entire body by jumping on the mini-rebounders (lower body), balancing our our new balance boards (balance/core), and used exercise balls (core/upper body) and exercise bands (total body). All students enjoyed the new equipment while rocking out to our favorite MLS PE tunes on the stage!
Hand Washing: An all-time favorite of the MLS Health and Nutrition Fair as Ms. Howard-Smith broke out the Glo Germ Kit to show our students the effectiveness of their hand washing techniques.
Blue Ridge Poison Control: There are many unsafe household items that closely resemble foods that we may find in our homes as well, so the Blue Ridge Poison Control is a great place to go to learn about the subject.
Germ Tag (K-2nd): An awesome game we play in PE that reinforces the best ways to keep our immune systems healthy so we do not have to go to the doctors and take medicine. Here is a link to the game if you wish to play it with your class: http://bit.ly/sFD1kH
The Importance of Sleep: Last but not least, Dr. Chris Winter was AWESOME and shared many reasons why sleep is important, how much we should try to get, and told us ways we could improve our sleep! MLS PE students know that sleep is an important part of keeping our immune systems nice and strong, and Dr. Winter was nice enough to share his entire day with us as well as his vast knowledge on the subject.
Hopefully this will help other PE teachers if they wish to start their own Health Fair. It was a great collaboration between the school nurse, guidance counselor, cafeteria manager, health professionals in our community, and the PE Dept. Everything was carefully planned to include different fitness disciplines, at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise, the healthiest of snacks (no dairy or artificial ingredients), and interesting/informative topics that will help our students be healthy and stay healthy!
