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Social emotional learning and physical tasks

Originally published March 17, 2019 in the Hillsdale Daily News.

By Steve Head

The superintendents of Lenawee County schools have made social-emotional learning the focus of our monthly articles for this school year.

This month, the focus is on the role of physical activity on social-emotional learning. Physical education classes and play provide a wonderful opportunity for our students to develop the key skills necessary for self-confidence and self-esteem, along with a healthy lifestyle. Read More

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DeLucia Puts the Fun in Fitness

Originally published March 6, 2019 in the Zip06News.

By Pam Johnson

He’s the star of Fitness Fridays, the mind behind some stellar physical education grants, the father of an annual family fitness fundraiser, and the ringmaster of a circus-based student experience. Suffice it say, physical education teacher Derek DeLucia puts the fun in fitness at Melissa Jones Elementary School (MJS).

Now in his sixth year at MJS, Derek (also known as “Coach D”) started making a splash at the school by instituting Fitness Fridays five years ago, using a grant he wrote and received from Guilford Fund for Education (GFFE). Read More

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Setting Preschoolers on an Active Path

Originally published Feb. 12, 2019 in U.S. News & World Reports.

By Len Canter, HealthDay Reporter

Physical activity is closely linked to development of a child’s mental skills — ones essential to academic success and navigating challenges they’ll face throughout life.

Studies show that boosts in thinking ability, or executive function, often follow bouts of activity. But only one-third of children are physically active every day. Less than half the time they spend in school activities — like physical education, team practices and even games — includes movement that qualifies as physical activity. This shortfall means that their physical health, as well as their mental skills, may suffer. Read More

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‘I have a first grader who hasn’t been outside since October’: Mom questions lack of recess

Originally published Feb. 4, 2019 in the Bristol Herald Courier.

By Valerie Honeycutt Spears

The mother of two Fayette County, Ky., students is questioning how much physical activity her children get at school.

Janine Schmedding-Bartley, who has two children at Millcreek Elementary School, said her “first-grader hasn’t been outside since October.

At a public hearing, she said her fifth-grade daughter and her first-grade son get far less physical activity than was offered at schools in Michigan. The family moved from there to Lexington this academic year. Read More

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A hop, skip and jump away from doing better in class

Originally published Jan. 21, 2019 in the Rockland/WestChester Journal News.

By Kimberly Redmond

Kids in the Suffern Central school district may just be a hop, skip and jump away from doing better in class.

In the corridor leading to the kindergarten, first- and second-grade classrooms at Sloatsburg Elementary School, a colorful sequence of decals are affixed to the floor, creating a pathway. Read More