This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
We have a hard working group of young girls and boys that come from an area of our country with a high concentration of crime, poverty, violence, drugs and abuse. I have witnessed success of these children as young adults graduating from college (many are first in their families), starting businesses, befriending presidents of the United States of America-unbelievable accomplishments that I feel privileged to be a part of. They need adults to believe in them.
These resilient and amazing children show up at school each day, regardless of what is happening at home and in their neighborhoods, to excel at reading and math, to rejoice in friendships they are making and learn life long skills to enable them to "fly".
Many of our students come from families who are less aware of the value of proper nutrition. This, in part, may be due to lack of health education, specifically the importance of healthy eating and exercise. Many students are responsible to make themselves and their siblings dinner at night. Sports and clubs may take a back seat due to lack of financial ability to pay fees for private lessons, transportation and time constraints because parents have to work multiple jobs.
My Project
I am a health educator and school nurse to inner city youth in grades 7-12 at a college prep, charter school. The physical education program is still in its' infancy and many of our students have never exercised a day in their life. We are keeping it simple and starting with pedometers for walking.
Less than 25% of our 280 students passed the Connecticut State Fitness Exam this year!
This is devastating to the school, the community and society as a whole as physical health and well-being is crucial to success academically, emotionally, socially and mentally. The highest rates of heart disease, stroke and cancer are in our inner cities-our educational budget is not giving our future generations the healthiest start in life. We have NO budget for the physical education program. My students have limited experience with exercise, however many of them walk to school.
We need 30 pedometers. This is enough for all students in one classroom. The plan is to assign one pedometer to each student and have an individual step goal for each student. They must reach their walking distance goal by the end of each week according to the pedometer reading. They will be able to do this by taking stairs instead of elevators, walking to certain places rather than getting a ride, walking their dogs around the block after dinner each night, ANYTHING to get them moving! With the pedometers, they can keep track of their own progress and it will give them a sense of control over their own fitness goals (ie. I need to walk an extra hour before Friday to reach my step goal). This will benefit my students greatly. It will improve their cardiovascular health, muscular strength and endurance, improve behavior and hopefully get them motivated to walk miles!!!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Braglia and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
