Devin Lorigan knows that there is plenty of evidence that physical exercise can have a direct positive impact on academic learning, but to see it first-hand was a whole different thing.

Lorigan and her fellow West Hills Primary School physical education teachers Brian Claypoole and Amanda George, hosted a before-school pilot program in April. As part of the project, third-grade students were given one minute to solve problems on math worksheets before and after they exercised.

What they saw was that students would not only perform better after the exercise, but much better. On a 25-question math assignment, the students would answer two, three and even five more questions correctly.

“The data was amazing. It was just amazing,” Lorigan says. “We thought we might see a difference, but we didn’t think we would see something so clear. We couldn’t believe it.”

Starting At Zero

The before-school program began when Lorigan was trying to find a way to incorporate more exercise into her students’ lives. West Hills Primary’s after-school exercise program had been successful, but they had begun to see a decline in attendance for a variety of reasons. Then Lorigan decided to take advantage of the time students had before the start of the school day.

“I had read about a before-school program, and decided to give it a try,” Lorigan says.

The project she read about was called Zero Hour PE. It’s called zero hour because it takes place from 7:30 a.m. to

8:15 a.m., before the first period of the school day. Inspired by what she read, Lorigan decided to implement the program—under the name Zero PE—at West Hills Primary.

According to Lorigan, who also serves as the district’s Wellness Coordinator, about 50 students participated in the month-long pilot program. Most of them were students in kindergarten through the third grade, but a few of their older siblings joined in, as well.

Students would start their session with some exercise, like running two laps, doing 20 jumping jacks, riding a stationary bike or wall climbing. Students would then play a game such as Boulders and Buildovers, a cardio game; Mattball, a variation of kickball; and Bombs Away, a type of volleyball game.

The program came at no cost to the school district, thanks to Lorigan and her team being able to use what they already had. “We already had the equipment and supplies,” Lorigan says.

And while Zero PE did require the faculty’s time, they quickly realized that they could simply incorporate lessons and activities from their scheduled classes into the morning program, and just set up for both at the same time.

“After the first few times, we thought, ‘Why don’t we just do what we are doing for our classes?’ It was kind of a no-brainer,” Lorigan says.

Share In the Success

At the end of the pilot program, Lorigan shared their findings with the rest of the district faculty, as well as with the HEALTHY Armstrong committee, of which is also a member.

“We are hoping that (teachers) will start thinking about ways they can introduce some exercise before academics to improve the results. Maybe students can take a small walk before a test. This can open a lot of doors,” Lorigan says.

She is also hoping other schools will look at West Hills Primary’s Zero PE program and begin one of their own. For West Hills Primary, Lorigan, Claypoole and George are offering Zero PE this fall and next spring.

“It is really easy to implement and it produces results,” Lorigan says. “Plus, the kids love it.”