Radio Disney party caps 'Get Active' at Millcreek
Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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Millcreek Elementary started the day with a dance party in the gym.
Millcreek Elementary celebrated its success in the “Get Active, Get Fit School Challenge” with an hour-long live dance party hosted by Radio Disney, complete with warm-up stretches, a teacher dance-off and water-bottle prizes for kids.
As one of the first to register in the nationwide contest, Millcreek also received $500 worth of gym equipment such as basketballs, soccer balls, hula hoops, jump ropes and safety cones.
First-year teacher Allison Wilson was behind the push last semester.
“She just took the ball and ran,” Principal Lorraine Williams said Tuesday. “It’s a great way to start your career – making a difference.”
In the two-month challenge, students in grades K-5 aimed to do something physically active on at least 40 of the 55 days and kept track of their efforts in individual notebooks.
“The whole point was for them to get moving and not be sitting around,” Wilson explained.
The contest reinforced what she stresses in wellness and physical education classes and encourages at recess: free play and variety, such as walking a dog around the block.
“A lot of them have in their brain that working out isn’t fun. This showed them they don’t have to necessarily do jumping jacks for 50 minutes. They can still do something fun and be active,” Wilson said.
Millcreek was among the eight Kentucky schools with the highest percentage of participation in the Get Active challenge, which was sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
“The teachers must have really been into it because (the kids) were very excited about it,” Wilson noted.
Since Millcreek is a “Leader in Me” school, students already document their own tests scores, behavior benchmarks and attendance records, so tallying their physical activities was just one more way to show them how to be accountable for their actions.
The Get Active, Get Fit School Challenge was designed to motivate children and families to achieve fitness together by engaging in fun activities. Organizers provided evaluation forms for students to take to their parents to gauge the initiative’s impact at home.
“Winning this is a catalyst for what we can do and should do with the kids,” Williams said. “This is a shot in the arm – the beginning of what I hope will be a stronger emphasis on healthy living and healthy lifestyles in the Millcreek community.”
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