In the Zone - Spring 2023: The health. moves. minds. Newsletter

In the Zone

Issue 9 / Spring 2023

Bringing More Physical Activity to Our School

KARINE SCOTT

One of the things I really like about the health. moves. minds. Fundraiser is that we get 50% back to our school. When my co-teacher Jonathan McHenry and I organize our fundraiser each year, it’s very important to talk with the students and share a presentation with their parents about what we can accomplish, so they realize what working together can

do.

For example: If we raise $500, we can get recess equipment; if we raise $1,000, we can get fidget bands; if we raise $5,000, we get a pedal bike … or new nets for our soccer goals … or basketball hoops for our gym. It helps them see what is possible.

I also give special incentives to make it fun for the students and use a goal chart to show where we are in relation to the

school goal. Here are some of the incentives our students have really liked:

• Top individual fundraisers get a set of roller blades, bike helmets and bike reflector, or extra PE class.

• Top classroom fundraisers like the incentive of PE day with activities of their choice.

We have even made a bracelet with a QR code. When parents scan the code, it takes them to our health. moves. minds. Fundraiser presentation where they can see the school goal as we achieve it. I also share with them how to get started by registering and joining our school team.

During the pandemic, we used the health. moves. minds. lessons a lot — and we still use them because they are well written and adaptable. I love the breathing lesson with the parachute because I want to keep my students physically active. In the past we had a dedicated teacher for SEL, and we gave the lessons to her to use along with other curriculum to help regulate and teach our students — especially about the importance of kindness.

It was very powerful to see students helping other students (who had different levels of skating ability, for example) during our health. moves. minds. Fundraiser celebrations.

LET’S CELEBRATE

The health. moves. minds.® Fundraiser brings together the lessons, activities, and community-building ideas that help students live their best life.

You can share your success with health. moves. minds. — and bring national attention to your school — by contributing to In the Zone! If interested, email healthmovesminds@shapeamerica.org.

Our health. moves. minds. Fundraiser celebration theme is always focused on physical activity, such as a bike rodeo, bikea-thon, or skating. I like introducing new physical activities that the kids may not have access to or may not have done before. If a student raises $2 or more, they get to attend.

(continued on page 4)

Physical Education Teacher, W. B. Simpson Elementary School (Camden, DE)

Karine Scott likes to share a presentation with students and parents to show what can be accomplished with a health. moves. minds. Fundraiser.

Physical educators Karine Scott (left) and Jonathan McHenry (right) use the health. moves. mind. Fundraiser to impact physical activity at their school.

fundraising focus School Success Story

Camp Dick Robinson Elementary School

LANCASTER, KY PATRICK KENNEDY | Physical Education Teacher

Total Raised: $1,242.51

Last year was my first year participating in SHAPE America’s health. moves. minds. Fundraiser. I like how in Kentucky we start to use the health. moves. minds. lessons and activities in the fall. Catie Embry and Angela Stark from Kentucky SHAPE have a Kindness Across the Commonwealth event in our state using these resources.

I look at the huge number of resources and decide what I am going to use for different grade levels and get the activities ready for classroom teachers too. They can dive deeper if they want to, but it is all ready for them right from the start. The classroom teachers take photos while doing their activities and we celebrate in PE.

This year we raised a lot more during our health. moves. minds. Fundraiser than last year, so I slept up on the roof as the celebration for the students. It is a great way to not only incorporate social and emotional learning in our PE classes, but to also have classroom teachers do the same in their class. This makes a difference school wide.

We talk about how life is not easy, and how we need to adapt and make each day as good as we can, such as using the lessons to make the day better. We talk about how movement can make your day better — it helps get oxygen to the brain. We talk about selfawareness and how we affect others.

As we teach our students how important it is to treat each other the best we can, having that shared vocabulary in classrooms and faculty meetings is very helpful. We like that the theme each year is getting our students thinking about wellness, mindfulness, teamwork, respect, relaxing, managing stress — turning it into their vocabulary and brightening their day.

The Amplify Kindness theme was a really good fit this year because it was a way to tell our students that we need to really make kindness big. The ideas the teachers and students came up with were great! Classroom teachers took their students outside to read and outside to exercise before an assessment, which had a positive impact on students.

When we do our health. moves. minds. Fundraiser in the fall, we support Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Through teamwork, everyone plays a part in helping (even if just a little bit) to make a sick child’s day better. We all work together toward that one goal.

We also had fun during the fundraiser, whether it was taping the principal to the wall, talking about how the kids helped get the new PE equipment for our school, or me sleeping on the roof — plus the fun incentives like the health. moves. minds. T-shirt.

Overall, one of the best parts about this year’s fundraiser was seeing the engagement spread through our whole school community. The students, staff and families really came together to help make the week a huge success!

Students at Camp Dick Robinson Elementary spread kindness by cleaning up the school grounds.

Physical education teacher Patrick Kennedy prepares to sleep on the school roof overnight as part of the health. moves. minds. Fundraiser celebration.

state spotlights

The health. moves. minds.® Fundraiser has many benefits for students, schools and communities — and for participating state affiliates! Teachers find it easy to integrate the activities and lessons into an existing curriculum, whether they teach preK-12 or at the college/university level.

In this issue, we’re shining a spotlight on Annette Ice, a health and physical educator in Wyoming, and Tom Loughrey, executive director of MOSHAPE. They are both doing great work with health. moves. minds.

Tom Loughrey Executive Director

MOSHAPE (Missouri Society of Health & Physical Educators)

MOSHAPE participates in SHAPE America’s health. moves. minds. Fundraiser because it is good for our schools, our students, charities we would like to support, and our state association. Our team is led by state coordinator Kristi Bieri and assisted by a leadership team (#ShowMeMoKindness) of Kyle Salvo, Megan Baker, and Kaisee Lovercamp. We post on all social media platforms almost every day and engage our members by email, on our website, and in person.

As a state association, MOSHAPE takes participation to the next level because of our contact with educators and efforts with a tiered incentive program. Every educator/school that participates in the fundraiser in our state is listed in our banquet program at the state convention. In the second tier of rewards, we offer complimentary convention registration for raising more than $2,000. Achieving the third tier (raising more than $5,000) provides a wearable product. And for those who achieve the fourth tier, raising more than $10,000, MOSHAPE pays registration fees for the SHAPE America National Convention & Expo. (Achieving the higher rewards tiers also includes receiving the rewards from each lower tier.) We also feature highlights of completed events in our quarterly online newsletter to recognize those who participate in health. moves. minds.

We do our health. moves. minds. Fundraiser in February but start using most the lessons in January. One lesson that is now part of our school behavior plan is the Mindful Minute. It is used yearround to help with emotion regulation and conflict resolution on a daily basis. The mini-lessons are helpful because I don’t have a lot of time with my students, and I like that they can be modified. They fit into our state standards really well, and they help our students learn how to work out problems themselves and remember to be kind to each other.

The fundraising is very important for us because the community playgrounds are our school playgrounds. The fundraiser last year has helped us get new swings and add much-needed recess equipment. We supported our PTO as our charity, so it helped sponsor kids to play in club activities (swim, basketball, gymnastics, etc.) who don’t have the money to participate otherwise.

At the MOSHAPE convention, we have an exhibit booth for health. moves. minds. with a logo backdrop that serves as a perfect spot for photos. We include multiple sessions at the convention every year to inform members and provide support and suggestions for gaining approval for and conducting the fundraiser. We also strive to mentor Team Champions (educators who lead the fundraiser) nationwide.

Hopefully these tips can benefit your state! Good luck and reach out to MOSHAPE as we are happy to share how and what we do.

Annette Ice Sage Elementary School Rock Springs, WY

In this episode, SHAPE America CEO Stephanie Morris talks with Jeff Ladd, Krista Winn, and Leah Wheeling about their experiences hosting a health. moves. minds. Fundraiser — and how doing so impacted their school culture and community for the better.

Bringing More Physical Activity to Our School (continued from page 1)

And, because we want students to learn the skills — and any safety rules — involved in the celebration activity, we get the community involved, bringing in people and organizations that can supply us with equipment to use during the event or providing instruction on safety and use of the skates or bikes.

It was really great when a parent told me that ever since the skating celebration event, she and her daughter have a bond and are now doing a weekly mother-daughter skating activity together in their community.

The biggest reason why I participate in the health. moves. minds. Fundraiser is to get more funds for resources, since I only have a budget of $500 a year. I like that I can save up the Gopher gift cards to buy something big that will provide opportunities for more physical activity in our school.

Staying involved with SHAPE America and the health. moves. minds. Fundraiser is really important because it is a strong community of health and physical education teachers. I’ve been able to connect with and build relationships with other teachers and learn about activities I may not have otherwise. The health. moves. minds. Fundraiser gives so much back to our school and then goes on to give back to our state and national association to grow our profession. What the fundraiser does beyond our school is important.

Students at W. B. Simpson Elementary School are introduced to new physical activities at yearly health. moves. minds. Fundraiser celebration events.

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