Camp4Real Winter Break Camp Jan. 2-4!

Come join Mr. Williams and Mr. Wymer for some awesome PE action and fun and healthy snacks over the break, January 2-4.  We will be offering a half day camp that runs from 8:30-12:00 each morning, with extended care (7:30-12:30) available.  Please visit Camp4Real.com for camp brochure, registration, and other pertinent information.  Thanks and have a happy and healthy holiday break!

Speed Stacks and MLS PE Apparel Orders! Only 2 days left!

It is the time of year again that is music to our ears:  SPEED STACKING!  Our students LOVE stacking and it is a wonderful opportunity to show their speed, quickness, and hand-eye coordination while having a blast and getting a great workout.  Click here for some of the awesome benefits of speed stacking.  The 3rd-5th graders who participated in the Stack Up! world record event last Thursday were totally exhausted after playing some of our favorite active stacking games:  King and Queen of Cups, Floor Tag, I Disappear Table Relay, and Table Tag.  We have not had that many water fountain visits in a long time.

As always, we have many students asking where they can purchase Speed Stacks equipment.  We are doing our annual group order again and it will run through December 5.  Please click here to visit the group order store.  Choose our school state and name, then you are in the group order store.  The benefits of purchasing your stacking equipment through a group order include free shipping, cheaper prices than the regular online store, and a 10% credit of the total order goes to MLS PE to buy new stacking stuff!  Since we have had many parents interested in buying equipment as holiday gifts, we have ensured the equipment will be shipped before the break.

Sticking with the holiday gift theme, MLS PE will be offering our first PE apparel order!  T-shirts, jackets, sweatshirts, and REVERSIBLE sweatshirts (adult sizes only) are available in our online store found here.  This order will run until December 4 to ensure adequate time for production and shipment before the break.  We will have samples available to view next week and you are sure to see one of your PE teachers sporting them at school!

Neither of these sales are fundraisers, so do not be pressured to buy.  Please try to purchase any items through the respective websites of both companies.  No cash or checks can be made out to the school.  Email or see Mr. Williams if you have any questions.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Our First MLS Wellness Week!

We are very excited to get our first MLS Wellness Week underway next week! We have so many exciting things planned for the week that we would like to share with you:

Early BIRD PE all week: Come in to the gym at 7:30 for some early exercise!

Teachers to Warm-Up Week: The kids love when their teachers join us for some fun PE movement!

PE Lunch for our 3rd-5th graders! Girls on Monday, boys on Friday.

Meriwether Mover videos created by our students all week long!

Water Wellness Wednesday:  Drink more water and cut out the sugary beverages, especially during the Halloween parties!

Daily goals encouraging our AWESOME classroom teachers to move more in the class as well as moving with our Book Buddies!

Nutrition-based games in PE.

Wellness activities by Ms. Bell in the classrooms

Healthier breakfast options by Ms. Tichner. (Check out the oatmeal bar on Monday. You get to choose your own healthy toppings!)

Informative wellness videos every morning before Meriwether Movers.

We look forward to a great week of wellness and hope you do too!

We are off to a great start this fall here at MLS. The 3-5 grades completed their soccer skills unit and are now beginning the Ultimate frisbee and handball units. The little guys have been working on cooperative skills along with learning fitness components and coordination activities. We also just finished an early EZone class called "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." We offered this class as a fundraiser for the PE department and had nearly seventy girls sign up. Everyone had a blast!

Fall MLS from andrew wymer on Vimeo.

Meriwether's Finest

We are so proud of our teachers who recently participated in the Charlottesville Women's four miler. They spent so much time working together to train for the race and they all did a fabulous job! Not only that they are a wonderful example to our students as they show how important it is to be physically active. Congratulations to all.

Rolling Along

The MLS PE Department is excited about the start of another year. One awesome aspect of teaching PE is that rather than starting over each year with new classes, we get to keep building on what kids have already experienced.  We are always looking for the latest, greatest and most fun games, dances, or technology to continue to keep the PE experience as awesome as possible. Check the schedule page to see when your child has PE so that they can come prepared ready to participate.

We are in the process of putting dates together for all of our events for the upcoming semester. Check back soon for those dates so you can mark them on your calendar.

Stop in and see us Monday, August 20 from 3:30-5:00 for Open House.

Meriwether Lewis wins the Discovery Dash!!!

Meriwether Lewis entered two relay teams into the Virginia Discovery Museum's Discovery Dash and had great results! Schools from Albemarle County Public Schools and Charlottesville Public School as well as local private schools entered in the team portion of the relay race. The format required each team to have a 6,7,8,and 9 year old run one leg of a mile relay.

Team 2 for MLS finished in fifth place. Team members were Owen Burton, Bennett Gibson, Trip Owen and Nina Bowen

Team 1 for MLS finished in 1st place with a relay time of 5:42. Team members were Owen Shifflett, Gavin Harris, Ray Crowder, Owen Shaffer

We also had students who ran in individual races. Owen Shifflett finished 1st in the 6 year old race. Cater Shaffer placed 3rd in the 7 year old race. Ian Honick finished 5th place in the 8 year old race.

A good time was had by all. Click on each pic to enlarge.

Summer camp deadline is fast approaching

The last day to register your child for MLS PE camp is Friday May 18. Don't miss out on the fun and excitement as we play awesome games and create healthy snacks each day. Visit camp4real.com to print out the brochure and have your child return it to Mr. Williams.

Family Field Day is a Hit!

On Sunday May 6th we hosted our first MLS Family Field Day. What a turnout! We had nearly 120 students and parents join in on the fun. Groups were divided up by clusters with K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 grades grouped together. Games included capture the flag, birdcage, various tug o war games, rainbow run, catapult and mangos and melons. It was a great time seeing all the parents joining in with their child(ren) and playing. Lots of smiles all around.

                                                        

                                            

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Remember that this week is family and friends to PE week. Come join in (or watch) your child and experience first hand of the fun of PE at MLS.

This week is the last week for sign ups for MLS summer PE camp. Check out camp4real.com to print off the registration form and send it back to Scott Williams.

*in effort to reduce our consumption of paper we will not be sending home registration forms for the camp. Please check the website.

Baseball, Capture the Flag, and other awesome MLS PE games!

   Check out a few of our older kids participating in the baseball unit as well as younger kids playing a version of capture the flag and other fun activities!   (click on pic to enlarge)                     

             

                 

Upcoming activities for students and their families:

*May 6 Family Field Day-We invite all of our MLS families to come out and enjoy an afternoon of fun-filled events, field day style!  Come out and experience Capture the Flag, Catapult, and much more.  This is a free event and the PTO will provide smoothies for everyone!  Email Scott or Andrew for more details.

*May 7-11  Family and Friends to PE Week- Bring your family and friends to let them join in on the experience of PE at MLS.  Our first open house earlier in the year brought us 138 visitors, an all-time record!  Come get a great workout, some awesome fun, and rock to some great music as you earn a day off from your regular workout at the gym!

Summer Camp, Upcoming Events, Student Creations, and more!

The school year is winding down and that means many awesome PE activities are on the horizon.  First, the summer camp dates are out and we have two MLS camps upcoming.  The new name of the camps is Camp 4Real: Real Fun, Real Food, Real Active, Real AWESOME!  Click here for the flyer so you can register! The MLS Camp 4Real dates are June 18-22 and July 30-August 3.  For our campers from last year, the camp will be very similar, but BETTER!  We have increased the camp day by 30 minutes.  This will provide much more time for activity, nutrition discussion and experiments, and character-building activities.  Be sure to look for Camp 4Real dates at other ACPS schools as well such as Brownsville (July16-20) and Hollymead (August 6-10) if you want to make some friends from other parts of the county!

MLS PE will also start our second year of Jogs for Dogs PE service project in cooperation with the CASPCA.  If your 2nd-5th grader is interested, please click here to find an orientation that works for you, as an adult must accompany the animals at all time and must be certified.  The training takes approximately 90 minutes.  Our first visit is planned for May 3, so please email swilliams@k12albemarle.org if you have any questions or to notify me when you complete the training.

Our 5th grade PE service project in cooperation with The Senior Center will continue this month with two activities.  The first is a project open to any 5th grader interested in a special opportunity in which we will take our healthy habits to a senior in our neighborhood!  Our participating students will receive a "kebob package" in which they can take to a senior friend in the neighborhood and make fruit kebobs!  This fun outreach program will be great for spreading healthy habits and building community.  An email will be sent out to 5th grade families in the next few days detailing the project.

In addition to the kebob project, we will be taking a group of 8-10 5th graders to the Senior Center on Monday, April 30 to teach our senior friends some fun brain-building activities and socialization.  A sign-up sheet will be posted in the gym today for interested the graders.  First-time participants have first priority, as many of our past participants really want to go again!

The PE activities do not stop there as we will have Early Bird PE AND Teachers to Warm-up Week April 23-27!  Doors open at 7:30 for early morning activity and classroom teachers are invited to join us for our warm-ups the entire week.  Sunday May 6 will be our first annual Family Field Day where you can bring out the entire family for an afternoon of great exercise and great food, as the Whole Foods truck will make an appearance!  Lastly, May 7-11 is another big week as it will be our second installment of Family and Friends to PE Week.  Please spread the word and come join in the fun of MLS PE!

We want to leave you with some great student creation videos, one from our upper-body strength routines from earlier in the year and one from our recent jump band unit.  Our students love to show their cooperative skills, confidence, and creativity in these confidence-building and extremely active displays!

2nd Quarter Update

This quarter was a busy one in PE but also very fun and productive. In December all students participated in our annual Health Fair. It was a great success as the students not only learned about nutrition but also about other healthy concepts such as proper amounts of sleep and how it helps our bodies prevent illness. They also got to experience zumba, judo, and yoga, three great activities that keep bodies active and fit.

In December we also had our school wide sport stacking tournament. The tournament is open to every student who wants to compete in grades 3-5.  We also invite a few primary stackers as well.  A record 138 stackers participated!  The kids had a great time, but more importantly, exhibited great sportsmanship.  We feel it is very important for our students to learn how to act during competitive activities.

Our 5^th graders have been spending one afternoon a month at the Senior Center showing the residents how to sport stack and other brain exercises that challenge cognitive skills. The residents really appreciate the students spending time with them and the students get an opportunity to understand the importance of serving within the community.

The next service project coming up will be Jogs for Dogs. This is a project that allows grades 2-5 the opportunity to take the dogs from the SPCA for walks. Be on the lookout for more information in a few weeks!

On Jan 31, our fifth graders performed an awesome halftime dance at the Western Albemarle basketball game. The dance was open to all 5^th graders and we were ecstatic that eighty percent of the entire grade wanted to participate. They did a great job and we all had a blast preparing for it!

We would like to announce our upcoming plans for the second semester. Be looking for our next installments of both Early Bird PE (we will open the gym at 7:30 am) and Family and Friends to PE coming in the spring.  Jump Rope for Heart is also coming up towards the end of February.

The Enrichment Zone classes continue to be a success for us. We just finished up our “Pre-Zone” session of “Girls just want to have fun”. We are now in full swing with the first sessions of this semesters ezone. Right now students are doing hip hop, sport stacking and basketball. It is not too late to sign up for the second session classes of Marvelous Mondays and Terrific Tuesdays.