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Lewis County school paves trail for lifelong skill

Originally published Aug. 16, 2018 in the Watertown Daily Times.

By Emily Griffin

South Lewis Central School District has annually dedicated time to teaching a skill students may carry with them forever — hiking.

For the 22nd year, South Lewis fourth-graders will take a hiking trip to Bald Mountain.

Within just three weeks of the school year kickoff, the district will have had a fourth-grade cross-country run, eighth-grade and fifth-grade biking trips, and the Bald Mountain hike all completed.

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Fort Dodge
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Driving for education: Fort Dodge Ford’s Drive 4 UR School

Originally published Aug. 11, 2018 in The Messenger.

By Olivia Hanson

Fort Dodge Ford Lincoln Toyota will host the Ford Drive 4 UR School event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 18 at the dealership at 2723 Fifth Ave. S.

Ford Drive 4 UR School is an event that supports education at the Fort Dodge Community School District.

At the event, any community member is able to come and test drive a car. For every unique test drive, $20 will be donated to the Fort Dodge Community Schools Foundation. Read More

new P.E.
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Up Close with Dr. E: The new P.E.

Originally published Aug. 4, 2018 by the Journal Review.

By Dr. Richard Elghammer

If you had asked me, when I was a 10-year -old boy attending school, “What do you like most about school?” my answer was lunch and recess.

Lunch was good because I liked food (still do), and my mother, a five-star cook, packed my lunch with delicious sandwiches and occasional surprises (Heath bar, tootsie roll). Recess was good because I hated (still do) being forced to sit all day at my desk. Recess for me was the same as racing is to a thoroughbred competing in the Kentucky Derby: the freedom to run your heart out in a pell-mell dash down a dirt racetrack, and the power-raw muscular power-to push and push your body until your front legs cross the finish line. Recess gave my body unfettered freedom to do what all children’s bodies are engineered to do, namely, to run, jump, hop, skip, swing, teeter, roll, stretch and twist.

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PE program
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Revamped PE program impacts entire school

Originally published July 9, 2018 in the Cottage Grove Sentinel.

By Zach Silva

At Waldo Elementary School in Salem, principal Tricia Nelson wanted more from the PE program.

Year after year she saw the same games being played and a thought kept coming back to her: will students know how to be in shape without the assistance of team sports? What happens when they are no longer in school?

“How do you take care of yourself when it’s just you?” she asked in a phone interview on Monday. Read More

physical education
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IL’s ambassador of physical education

Originally published Aug. 5, 2018 in the Lancaster News.

Coach Honeycutt travels the country spreading his passion

By Hal Millard

Jerry Honeycutt is on a quest, determined to turn the notion of public-school physical education on its ear.

In an era when schools are placing increased emphasis on areas such as math, science and technology to help build a competitive future workforce, PE classes may often be overlooked and undervalued – perhaps even eliminated entirely. But according to Honeycutt, head PE coach at Indian Land High School, physical education can be so much more than kids idly shooting baskets in the gym, the occasional softball game, and an easy A. Read More