Dynamic PE course
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Dynamic PE Course at Pomperaug High School Honored

Originally published Oct. 5, 2018 in the Southbury Patch.

The course was developed with the intention of assisting students who are struggling in school through physical activity.

The Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CTAHPERD) has awarded the “Dynamic Physical Education” course at Pomperaug High School (PHS) as an outstanding program.

Danielle McCauley, a Physical Education teacher at PHS, wrote the curriculum and syllabus for the dynamic PE course. The course was developed with the intention of assisting students who are struggling in school through physical activity, with a conscious effort toward developing a growth mindset and sense of mindfulness to improve calmness and focus through yoga and meditation. Read More

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Benefits of Heart Rate Monitors in Physical Education

IDEA Public Schools Help Students Improve Academically by Maintaining Commitment to Physical Fitness as Complement to Classroom Learning

Teachers and administrators at IDEA Public Schools use PE heart rate training as an essential tool in helping students improve their academic performance.

Throughout IDEA’s network, students manage their physical fitness by wearing IHT Zone wrist heart rate monitors. By analyzing that data collected through the heart rate monitors and analyzed with the IHT Spirit System software throughout the year, PE Curriculum Manager Eren Kirskey and IDEA’s PE teachers see students improve in key metrics. Principals and classroom teachers have noticed as well. At several IDEA campuses, leadership has changed its approach to addressing academic interventions for students struggling academically. Read More

muscular fitness
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Muscular Fitness Plays Key Role in Academic Success, Study Finds

Studies continue to define the impact improved cardiovascular fitness has on students’ academic readiness, and a recent study details the positive correlation between muscular fitness and cognitive function.

“Muscular Fitness, Working Memory and Academic Achievement in Children,” authored by Shih-Chun Kao, concluded that “muscular fitness may have unique contributions to working memory independent of aerobic fitness.” Read More

fitness time
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In response to research, schools boost physical fitness time

Originally published Feb. 26, 2018 by Education Dive.

By Amelia Harper

Schools are paying more attention to the need to include physical fitness as experts like Charles Hillman, an advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, say that evidence of the connection between fitness and brain function has mounted steadily over the years, according to the Hechinger Report.

In 2015, only 27% of high school students were getting the recommended number of minutes of daily exercise, and girls, Hispanic students, and black students received less exercise than white students, according to data from Child Trends.

Some school districts are trying new physical education approaches that are reaping results. In Fort Worth, for example, a school switched to four 15-minute periods of recess per day instead of one 20 minute session and saw a 25% to 35% decrease in off-task behaviors. And in Wisconsin, the state education department is now overseeing a program called Core 4+ (or “active kids, active classrooms) that features interventions to increase movement during the school day. Read More

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School’s focus on student fitness contributes to academic successes

Data from student-worn heart rate monitors and research about the positive impact physical education has on academic success convinced an IDEA Public Schools principal to make sure students who need academic support don’t get it at the expense of exercise and fitness.

“‘You will no longer take kids out of PE for academic intervention until they have had at least 30 minutes in P.E. utilizing the monitors,’” mandated IDEA Monterrey Park principal Curtis Lawrence.

IDEA students wear the IHT Zone wrist heart rate monitors during physical education and strive to exercise at an elevated heart rate for as long as they can during class or activity breaks. Students can see in real time if they are improving their fitness by exercising in the target heart rate zone (yellow for moderate to vigorous activity; red for vigorous activity) by the color displayed on the heart rate monitor. Read More