By

Tiffany Fishman,   Penn Elementary School

Play:

Topics:

Physical Activity Participation

Our school uses the Mileage Club in conjunction with our 100 Mile Club. Students can walk on a set course on Monday, Wednesday and Friday during their lunch recess. As students finish a lap, they hand their Mileage Club card to a parent volunteer who gives a punch on their card. Once a student finishes their entire card, they turn it in during their PE class time and earn awards and prizes for miles walked. The Fuel Up kids are big motivators during the lunch classes encouraging kids to participate in the 100 Mile Club. There are also bulletin boards displayed that show statistics per class and grade level that help motivate the students. The Fuel Up kids are also responsible for distributing certificates to the top 5 classes each week that have the highest class miles. Also twice a school year we hold an all school mile walk which the Fuel Up kids lead. All other classes walk with their buddy classes and teachers and this just encourages all students and staff to participate in a healthy activity such as walking. We also have Family Fun night walks in which parents and family members can walk the Mileage Club course with their children. This fun event excites the kids even more as they can earn extra punches on their Mileage Club cards as well as enjoy walking with their family. The excitement of our students to get out and walk miles is fascinating. Being able to use funding from the Fuel Up to Play 60 program to purchase incentive awards for the 100 Mile Club has increased participation and overall enthusiasm for our Play!

How did students and adults work together as a team?

The parent volunteers are a large part of our 100 Mile Club. Without their help with punching the students' Mileage Cards, this program would not be as big of a success as it is. The positive interaction between the adults and students is one of encouragement and motivation. The Fuel Up kids also work with the adults as those students are in charge of collecting cards from the adults at the end of each recess.

How did you accomplish your goals?

Being able to use Fuel Up funding to purchase exciting incentive awards for our 100 Mile Club has been a huge motivation to accomplish our goal of incorporating our play. The kids are so excited about the awards that they want to continue to walk and add up miles.

What improvements have you seen at your school?

Being able to purchase new and exciting incentive prizes with the use of Fuel Up funding has improved the overall success of our 100 Mile Club. Students are excited and motivated to add up their miles. Also having Fuel Up kids encouraging students to participate has improved not only the participation in our 100 Mile Club but also the overall participation in the Fuel Up to Play program.