By

Amy Petersilie,   Alternative Learning Center - Rochester

Play:

Topics:

Community Involvement, Physical Activity Participation,  Teamwork

Our goal was to find fun ways for our students to get active. We wanted to show them that we can move, have fun, and not even realize we are working out. We worked with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and got a grant to make this all happen. We purchased a Bouldering Rock Wall. The next challenge was figuring out how to install it. We then called our friends at Roca Climbing and Fitness (a new climbing wall in Rochester) and they volunteered their time to come and install the rocks. After getting the wall installed, students learned the expectations to make it a safe experience and then were able to climb. They had a great time from just climbing, learning different routes to try and then playing games to challenge themselves. It has been a great experience for everyone. And the most fun was the following days when the students were so sore from climbing and they didn't even realize they had worked so hard.

How did you accomplish your goals?

We accomplished our goals by reaching out to our community and explaining what our needs were, explaining our student demographics, and being very patient. It took a lot of time, but in the long run it is well worth the wait.

How do you plan to make this Play last during the school year and beyond?

We have extra rocks to fix broken rocks. Mayo wants to continue our partnership by working to improve our overall health and wellness building-wide, and Roca would like to come back to our school and let our students climb their vertical walls for free.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

There was a lot of paperwork and other obstacles with this grant. We had to be patient, flexible, and ask for a lot of help. We also didn't get enough money from the grant, so we had to ask my principal for the extra and he was happy to find the remaining.