School Spotlight: Crest View Elementary
Keeping kids active is important to help young minds learn. At Crest View Elementary in Brooklyn Park, students learned a game that resembles lacrosse. Students also use pedometers that the school purchased through grant funding.
“I decided I wanted our kids to start moving more,” said Stacey Nelson, physical education teacher at Crest View elementary. “I wanted to be able to track how much they are moving. So the pedometers that we purchased through the grant give the kids and myself to see how active they are.”
So far, the pedometers are a hit.
“They helps us when we are running because it tells us what our speed is,” said Sencere Pernell, a student at Crest View.
“It helps you get more exercise and it helps you get moving,” said Saran Komara, another student at Crest View. “It’s very healthy for you if you’re moving. If you just sit all day it’s not going to help you have good energy.”
Focus on Learning
Good energy and making sure the kids are learning something is a focus of Ms. Nelson’s class.
“I like to have the kids tell me what they learned,” said Nelson. “I mean I know what I want them to learn, but I need to know what they learned. So if I need to adjust my lesson or whatever I can. So, that’s one of the questions I like to ask. I always want to challenge their brain a little bit on how to make it harder if they are really good at something I want them to be able to challenge themselves.”
On top of the pedometers, these kids always have a GIF, a short video clip that plays on a continual loop, on the classroom smart board to show what to do. It’s a tool Ms. Nelson says is important in this day and age.
“The less I talk the more they are moving,” said Ms. Nelson. “That’s my main goal is to get them to move.”
