By

Cara Peters,   Fort Mill Elementary School

Play:

Topics:

Physical Activity Participation

We implemented the 100 Mile Club as one of our Plays this spring. For the club, we purchased Sqords (activity tracking devices, like Fit Bits) and the students get to wear them to track their walking and running activities. The PE teacher implemented a challenge to see who could earn the most points by walking/running the most each day. The students have had a great time with the challenge and have really enjoyed using the Sqords and tracking their activity. Here are some of the direct quotes from students who have tracked their activity with the Sqords: --I really love the SQORDS. I try to get the most points everyday by running laps at recess.-5th grader --I like the SQORDS, because I can take it to girls on the run and see how much I've run that day.-4th grader --Whenever I'm wearing a SQORD I'm always moving to try and get the most points. -4th grader 

We feel the 100 Mile Club has been fun and challenging for our students, and it is really making a difference in their physical-activity level.

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

We plan to run the 100 Mile Club each year going forward. So the children can wear the activity trackers and participate in the challenge next year as well. We also wrote an additional grant to try to obtain more sqords so that more children can be a part of the 100 Mile Club when we run it again next year.

How did you accomplish your goals?

From the beginning, we developed a team that consisted of two PTA parent volunteers (to work on the grant), two teachers (to select the Plays and lead implementation of them), and the principal (to make sure that the funds were spent accordingly and everyone stayed on track for the grant activities). This specialization of the roles worked well for us--everyone did their parts and we were able to implement the Plays and get the children involved in a fun way!

What improvements have you seen at your school?

We ran impact surveys and the teachers reported improvements to our breakfast in the classroom program (via the Breakfast Anytime, Anywhere Play). And the children reported on their engagement with the 100 Mile Club play activities. From that data, we feel the grant funds and related plays have made a significant impact on the teachers and the children at our school.