The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Workout prepares students for testing
“I think our staff is looking to lessen some of the angst some kids get over testing.”
Students at Madison Middle School now working their way through state-mandated, standardized math testing are getting a morning jolt of activity to help ease their pre-test tensions, thanks to a new program that the district’s physical education department has initiated.
Dubbed brain-booster sessions, they consist of various, aerobic-exercise stations arranged in a course that snakes throughout the building and finishes with a snack, said Janet Sovey, who’s in charge of the wellness program for school-district employees, as well as teaching physical education to students.
“The Physical Education Department came up with this after a national physical education conference we attended in Boston in midMarch,” Sovey said.
She also said that, during the conference, organizers challenged phys ed teachers “to become physical activity directors” for their whole schools.
“So we took that challenge literally and thought we’d like to get the whole school active,” she said, adding that the brain-boosters idea was spawned by that challenge.
The brain-booster sessions last eight minutes for each group of students who move through the course, allowing two minutes for transition time over the entire layout, said Melissa Colarik, Madison Middle School phys ed and health teacher.
She said it’s just the kind of thing studies are showing improves brain function.
“A growing body of evidence suggests a relationship between vigorous- and moderate-intensity physical activity and the structure and functioning of the brain,” she wrote in an April 27 e-mail exchange. “Children who are more active show greater attention, have faster cognitive processing speed and perform better on standardized academic tests than children who are less active.” Sovey concurred. “There’s always been scientific evidence in support of exercise to support endorphins and the hormonal system, and to stimulate brain activity,” she said, adding that the brain-booster program debuted at the school earlier this year when students were taking the language-arts part of the American Institutes for Research — or AIR — standardized tests Ohio uses.
Sovey said the biggest challenge has been getting all of the students to their designated starting points and starting everyone at the same time. But she said the seventh- and eighth-graders in the school’s personal fitness class were tapped to help things move along and it seemed to be working well.
She also said everyone seems to like the program.
“The teachers are ecstatic about it,” she said. “And the students love it. They wish we could do it for them every morning.”
Madison Schools Superintendent Angela Smith said she’s impressed with the initiate that the phys ed department has taken in establishing the new program and she thinks it goes a long way toward helping students cope with test-related stress.
“I think our staff is looking to lessen some of the angst some kids get over testing,” she said in a May 3 interview at the Madison School Board office. “Kids have so much to be stressed about these days and testing is part of it. Janet and Melissa have taken it upon themselves to help mitigate some of that stress.”
Smith added that this is just the kind of program the U.S. Department of Education’s Carol M. White Physical Education Program — or PEP — grant money the school received was intended to be used for, and it is.
Colarik concurred, adding that some of the equipment used in the brain-booster course was obtained using PEP-grant funds.
She said the program doesn’t just provide a little exercise. Students are also treated to a snack immediately following their activities.
“Not only have students been able to go through the brain booster activity but we also have been able to provide every single student with a snack and a water the morning of their testing,” she said, adding that, “We have had nothing but positive comments from students, teachers and administrators.”