First Down for Fitness Recap

Teacher Quotes

“We have been doing aerobics in math, dancing during transitions and walking the halls to practice not talking in the hallways!  We’ve also been keeping a record of just how much physical activity we participate in daily by using football paper to score touchdowns on the gigantic goal post on our door. We’ve been watching the weekly health tips on our promethean board and it is also mentioned in our weekly newsletter that goes home to parents.  We call it the “Falcons First Down for Fitness Health Tip of the Week”.
-Carissa Bull, Coal Mountain Elementary School, Cumming GA

“I have started a morning exercise routine during the morning announcements.  I choose students from the “students of the week” to lead the school in the exercises.  I have also started a running club. We meet for an hour after school on Tuesdays and Fridays.  The running club will run for eight weeks and we had a 5K/1 mile fun run on September 26th.  I have over 50 kids that have joined the running club.”
-Tony Edmondson, Dutchtown Elementary School, Hampton GA

“During the Falcons First Down for Fitness program we have incorporated many fitness activities into our class. First we started doing Tae Bo once a week in class. I move all the desks to the back of the room and we enjoy some fun and exciting aerobics. We also have fitness breaks during class. I call them Fitness Time. We take time out of our class and we do jumping jacks, sit ups and jog in place for two minutes.”
-Melissa Tatum, Griffin Middle School, Smyrna GA

“We are now including five minutes of warm up activities during our morning routine and another 5-15 as we put motion to our vocabulary words in Math.”
-Michael Boyle, Jones Elementary School, Gainesville, GA
 

“I had a 45 minute lunch this year so I started a program where students can come to the gym three days a week for 15 minutes and work at their target heart rate.  The students are enjoying this extra activity time. “
-Tonya Brantley, Timber Ridge Elementary School, McDonough GA

“We have been having a fabulous time with the Falcons First Down for Fitness program.  I am amazed at how great they are doing.  One of my 3rd graders told me that her family is riding their bikes downtown Athens rather then driving their car… I thought that is fabulous family time and exercise for everyone involved.” 
-Jennifer Williams, Whit Davis Elementary School, Athens GA

Student Quotes

“Dear ATL Falcons, Thank you for coming to Kanoheda (Elementary School).  It was such an honor.  I was looking forward to it all week.  You taught us how to be healthy and what to eat.  My favorite activity was tug-o-war.  I learned that being active is not only good for your health, but also keeps you from getting fat!  Thank you and good luck.”
-Kyle Ta, Kanoheda Elementary School, Lawrenceville GA

“I exercise every day by first stretching and then dancing for at least an hour.  I have been dancing since I was three years old and am a competitive dancer.  I take classes for 6.5 hours during the week and then on weekends.  I work out to keep myself fit and work on certain routines or steps.  I like to dance because it helps me stay fit and healthy.  The best part of exercise is that I know by eating right and keeping myself fit it will help me to live a long and healthy life.”
Kaley Bunce, Madras Middle School, Newnan GA

“Being a Healthy Falcon: If you drink water and eat vegetables you can be a healthy Falcon.  The water helps you because it helps to keep your body hydrated.  The vegetables give you the vitamins and minerals that your body needs.  When you eat vegetables it helps you think better and run faster.  This is why I like to drink water and eat vegetables so I can play sports and be healthy.”
-Taylor Rogers, White County Intermediate School, Cleveland GA

Activity Ideas

“For Lesson 2 with the food pyramid, we would give each student a small food sample like a slice of apple or a half piece of bread or even a M & M and we would ask them to guess how many laps they would have to jog/walk around the gym to burn the calories in the food.  The students had a good time with this activity and they were surprised about some foods and how quickly you could burn the calories or how long it took to burn.”   
-John Warhol, Centerville Elementary School, Snellville GA

“Thanks to the Falcons First Down for Fitness program the kids are excited about exercising everyday for 60 minutes. One example of our fun exercise game is “dribble mania”.  The gym is divided into two sections/courts. Everyone starts on the same side (court one) and begins dribbling. If they step on a boundary line, their ball goes out of bounds, they stop dribbling or place both hands on the ball or if someone else hits their ball out of bounds they are out of court one and must go to court two.  On court 2 they perform the following exercises: basketball sit-ups (hold the basketball in your hands as you touch it to your knees and then to the floor behind your head), basketball push-ups (perform push-ups with your hands on the basketball (very difficult) or just support your body in the push-up position with your hands on the ball),  total body stretch (arms extended straight up while holding basketball) and hamstring stretch (bending down at waist and touch basketball to floor).”
-Maria Reynolds and Demetria Prkett, Columbia Elementary School, Decatur GA

“To emphasize healthy eating, we worked it into our math lessons on making change.  Students selected a healthy food from a sheet of healthy foods.  Then they decided an amount of money they would use to pay for the healthy food and figured out how much change they should receive.  Since I only allow healthy snacks in the classroom, this reinforced types of healthy snacks.  It also added to the math instruction instead of taking away instructional time.” 
-Deborah Yarbrough, Eastside Elementary School, Dalton GA

“During physical education classes here at Pucketts Mill Elementary School, we have incorporated football skills into fun, fitness related games and activities.  One such creative and innovative game that we are currently playing is called “Rescue the Quarterback”.  The gym is sectioned off to resemble a football field with two end zones.  Four quarterbacks are trapped in each end zone.  Each respective team has to free their quarterbacks by throwing footballs across the court with the quarterback successfully catching the ball.”
-Bryan Capes, Puckett’s Mill Elementary School, Dacula GA

“To emphasize healthy eating, we worked it into our math lessons on making change.  Students selected a healthy food from a sheet of healthy foods.  Then they decided an amount of money they would use to pay for the healthy food and figured out how much change they should receive.  Since I only allow healthy snacks in the classroom, this reinforced types of healthy snacks.  It also added to the math instruction instead of taking away instructional time.”

“This year our classes have really improved with their exercises. We have played a very fun game that we named “Falcon Ball”.  We use four balls and stack them up in the middle of the gym.  We choose one player to kick off.  If you get hit with the ball you sit down with feet crisscross.  Those sitting can still throw the ball and try to hit those standing.  The last person standing is the Falcon!  It is a very fun, high speed game that keeps the students moving!”                       
-Lara Norton, Swainsboro Elementary School, Swainsboro GA