Some success stories from 2011
The Walk On! Challenge is a free, educational program designed to motivate fifth-graders across Arizona to incorporate healthy habits into their dailyroutines to reduce the incidence of our state’s childhood obesity.
Every year teachers register their classrooms to participate in the Challenge. Walk On! is only as successful as it is because of the teachers who enthusiastically embrace the program. They give it everything they have to motivate their students to participate and complete the Challenge. From incorporating the Walk On! program into their daily curriculum to finding new and fun ways to get their students to participate outside of the classroom, teachers are the best resource for making the Walk On! Challenge a success.
Here are just a couple of examples of Arizona teachers who have embraced the program and seen success with it in their classrooms.
“As a teacher, Walk On! encouraged me to think out-of-the-box when it came to incorporating physical activity and healthy food choices into our daily schedule. We tried to interject exercise as much as possible including the use of ‘jumping out’ math problems or using fitness movements to spell out vocabulary words. Students were learning, being active and having fun all at the same time! I also developed food challenges for my students to try a new fruit or vegetable from the salad bar at lunch and to increase their overall servings. My students started eating so many fruits and vegetables at lunch time that our lunch ladies had to increase the produce order and provide different types of vegetables and fruit in so my students could continue to try new things. I consider this program a big success with my students.”
Priscilla Losca
Kyrene De La Estrella
“The Walk On! Challenge motivated my students to be healthy and active throughout the month of February. To start the school day off right, my students ran a lap around the field and then were given 10 minutes to be active at one of our activity zones which included a jump rope, basketball and kickball station.After we returned to the classroom, students took a few minutes to fill out their Walk On! booklets and we would discuss the healthy choices everyone had made the night before. Students kept a mini journal of ways they could be more physically active and eat healthy. This helped them remember all the tips we discussed in class.”
Alexis Machado
Acacia Elementary