Go The Distance Day

   Friday, May 4th was "Go The Distance Day" in the state of Iowa. Over 80,000 people across the state took 30 minutes out of their day to exercise.  The entire teaching staff and student body of Washington Elementary participated in the event.  We warmed up with the "Interlude" and walked for about 25 minutes on the blacktop.  Below is brief video of the event. 

The Laurentian

 Recently the Laurentian, a gymnastics based indoor jungle gym, was used for a two week P.E. unit.  The students are allowed to do a lot of movements not otherwise used in a common P.E. class.  The students are up off the ground climbing, balancing, hanging, crawling, and using their body in a space not often found in your average gym.  In fact, the Fairfield elementary schools along with Pekin Elementary share the equipment, and we are the only two schools in the state who are using equipment of this kind.  Here are some pictures of the kids in action.

4th Grade Swimming

The 4th graders in all the elementary centers just finished up a swimming unit at the Roosevelt Aquatic Center.  Thanks to Christy Leazer for all her time and the swimming instruction. Here is a short video of the students in the pool.

Jump Rope For Heart

I recently turned in just over $4000 to American Heart Association from the students of Washington and Pence Elementary who participated in Jump Rope for Heart this year.  Prizes will be arriving soon. Below is a video of a few classes jumping during their PE time. Thanks to all the students to helped raise funds to help fight heart disease and stroke.

Jump Rope for Heart 2012

By now all the third and fourth grade students from Pence and Washington Elementary have received their Jump Rope for Heart packets and they are out collecting donations for the American Heart Association.  All the classes will be jumping rope during their P.E. classes the week before Spring Break. All donations should be turned in at that time as well.  Every year we turn over thousands of dollars to help fight heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in America every year.  Below is a video that explains the event and how the donations we raise help those suffering from these health issues.  Please take time to be a heart hero and donate to the American Heart Association.

Wii Dancin'

The elementary students recently played the video game Just Dance during their physical education classes.  The video game and the Wii console were both purchased with a grant from the Fairfield Education Foundation.  Below is a video of Mrs. Carter's second grade class in action.

Inspiration from Christopher Robin

Coming Soon....Jump Rope for Heart

We will be joining hands with the American Heart Association in the month of March by conducting our annual Jump Rope for Event for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. Here is a video that helps explain all that the American Heart Association does and how the money we raise will help.  Kids will be receiving more information and a donation packet in the coming week.

The Climb

Classes at Washington spent a couple periods on the climbing wall recently.  Here is a short video of a few classes getting some exercise on the wall.

Basketball Skills

One thing elementary students are working on this month in PE is basketball skills.  Students will practice dribbling, passing, and shooting and play some games with basketballs. Below are some pictures and a video of Ms. McEvoy's first grade class practicing their dribbling skills.

Remember this.....

Happy Holidays!

Best wishes to all this holiday season!

How about some inspiration?

An inspiring true story of young man who just wanted to be on a team.

Run Rudolph Run!

I think you can find every kid at Washington Elementary in this video of children running.

   

 

It's a DDR party!

The Dance, Dance Revolution and Wii equipment purchased with an Education Foundation grant is being put to use this week.  Here is a sample video of equipment in use.  Students are having a fun time stepping with the music and following along with the video game.

Run laps...spell words

   Last week in PE students used cardio cards to spell out words from grade level lists provided by classroom teachers.  Students worked in groups during the activity.  Kids ran two laps around the gym to "earn" a card from the letter bank.  These letters were used to spell words from the list.  As you will notice in the video, students were very busy running and working together to spell words quickly and correctly.

Let the Good Times Roll

Here is a video of some Pence students using scooters in a recent PE class.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parent/Teacher conferences are next week on Tuesday, Nov. 1 and Thursday, Nov. 3. They run from 5:00 to 8:30. During conferences, I will be at both Pence and Washington Elementary each night. I will start at Pence from 5:00 to 6:30 and finish at Washington 6:30 to 8:30 on both nights.

So, ya say you want a revolution?

The elementary PE department recently received a grant from the Fairfield Education Foundation.  This grant is for roughly 2,200 dollars.  The grant money will be used for a Wii Group fitness package.  The major equipment and technology being ordered includes a Wii console, Wii Sport Game, Wii Sport Resort Game, Dance Dance Revolution the Hottest Party Game, 4 DDR "Energy" Metal Dance Pads for Wii, 8 DDR "Non-slip" Training Pads, 5 "Tough" Training Pads, 12 digital pedometers.  All of this equipment can be used with a video projector and Bose sound dock purchased from the 2007 PEP Grant.  With the new equipment, entire classes will be actively engaged in the video games being used.  Exer-gaming is popular in homes throughout our country and becoming more and more popular in the school setting.  The order has been placed and the equipment should be arriving in early November.  We are thankful for all the Education Foundation does for the students of our district and can't wait to put our new equipment to use.

Thank you Mr. Gruwell

This week marks the end of Mr. Gruwell's student teaching experience with the elementary PE department and the students at all of our elementary centers.  We have enjoyed our time with Mr. G. and wish him well with his next placement at the middle school.  Below I have created a fun and seasonal video farewell to Mr. G.  Thanks for all the great work at our elementary schools.