During the wellness half-day, Clyde-Savannah’s physical education teachers oversaw rock climbing sessions.
Wild for Wellness
On March 8, Clyde-Savannah devoted a half-day to wellness activities for staff. With the help of guest speakers, the event featured professional development opportunities to help staff members learn how to enhance their energy paradigm in and out of the classroom. The superintendent facilitated drum circles for stress relief, the art teacher held a guided painting session for art therapy, and physical education teachers hosted rock climbing sessions. Training was offered for adding more movement in the classroom as well as education concerning adverse childhood experiences. University of Rochester staff taught sessions on yoga, stress management and becoming more sugar savvy. Clyde-Savannah is offering a four-week yoga series as a follow-up, as well as once-a-month PD sessions from the Genesee Valley BOCES concerning classroom movement.
Kevin Delehanty was one of the cook-off winners.
Chili Cook-Off
A chili cook-off competition was held between staff at a March Superintendent Conference Day. The event also served as a collection for donations to the National Kidney Foundation — March is National Kidney Disease Awareness month. The cook-off brought out several chili cooks, tasters and judges. Trophies were awarded to the winner in each building after kidney bean voting tokens were cast and counted.
The Wellness Committee provided a salad bar with homemade Italian bread donated by Breen’s Market. The effort raised more than $350 for the National Kidney Foundation.
On March 17, Bloomfield Central Schools held a Chili Challenge. Staff at the elementary and middle high school competed to see who could make the best chili. A $5 donation was suggested to participate in or judge the challenge, with all proceeds benefiting the National Kidney Foundation. The winner from each school won a Blue Apron gift card, and $218 was raised in total donations.
Seneca Falls High School/Middle School nurse Donna Matthews and teacher Jason Herron after an Early Bird workout.
Psycho Plyometric
by Marnie A. Impastato
It is 4:30 a.m. and the alarm yells at you to get up to go to the 5 a.m. workout. You religiously bounce out of bed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to go work out with four other insane people just like yourself.
It began three years ago when we created our Wellness Program. We brainstormed ideas of what workouts we could offer, and the idea of an Early Bird workout was born. We started the program with about 10 people and now, three years later, there are five of us who remain and attend three days a week.
The workouts were born in the Middle School gym, where we were doing station workouts and cardio. The station workouts consisted of exercises such as wall ball with an 8.8-pound medicine ball, jump rope, box jumps, abdominal exercises with a medicine ball, sprints and more. The workout is about 45 minutes long, including a warm-up and good stretch at the end.
Eventually, we transitioned to the new weight room that houses treadmills, ellipticals, bikes and weights, which enabled us to incorporate a plyometric workout. Plyometric is defined as activities that enable a muscle to reach maximal force in the shortest amount of time. This form of exercise seems to work best for us because we are short on time. Some of the workouts consist of burpees, mountain climbers, tuck jumps, kettle bell swings, block passes with an active rest of high knees, jumping jacks and butt kicks in between each set of exercises. We do 10 complete sets, and each day’s exercises depend on the body parts we choose to work.
Our insane group that participates consists of a building principal, school nurse, high school social studies teacher, business manager and an IT department person; and we don’t ever regret that alarm when our workout is complete.
Marnie A. Impastato is an application support services assistant in Seneca Falls Central School District.
The “Drums Alive” exercise was originally introduced as an activity for students. Now, staff members partake in the fun.
Red Creek Elementary physical education teachers introduced a lesson last year called “Drums Alive,” and students love it. The concept involves a large exercise ball, a bucket and drum sticks. Combine these with the rhythm of music and the fun begins. When the class was offered to staff it was met with great enthusiasm: Moving, dancing, sweating — all the while not feeling like not working out.
Weight Watching
Penn Yan’s Weight Watchers group formed on November 29, 2016, with approximately 20 members. Through the holidays, the group had collectively lost more than 230 pounds. The group, which meets Tuesday afternoons, continues to grow after such success, and members support each other’s goals while also providing encouragement when faced with struggles and challenges. Weight Watchers offers a discounted enrollment fee for members of the At-Work group, and employees are able to use flexible ppending or health reimbursement funds to pay for membership.
Back Care Yoga
The district provided employees the opportunity to experience two complimentary Back Care Yoga classes taught by Penn Yan physical education teacher and certified yoga instructor Kiki Seago. The poses she taught were designed to help rid the body of unwanted toxins, strengthen and lengthen muscles, improve or maintain balance, relieve lower back pain, lower blood pressure, relieve digestive problems, increase metabolism, regulate hormone levels and improve circulation.
Canandaigua staff members take advantage of open-swim hours.
With the help of the Canandaigua City School District’s Wellness Initiative, the aquatic facility is now open two days a week to district faculty and staff.
Hydration Project
York Central School faculty, staff and students are enjoying the newly purchased wall-mounted drinking fountain with bottle-filler station. With funds provided from the FLASHP account, the Wellness Team was able to purchase this updated drinking fountain to replace an unused, broken drinking fountain. The bottle-filling station is not only convenient, it reduces dependency on plastic water bottles, which minimizes plastic waste in the environment.
UR Wellness Workshops
Faculty and staff had the opportunity to participate in four interactive wellness workshops hosted by a knowledgeable clinical expert. The workshops provided the latest information and tips on how to get healthy and stay healthy. Topics of the 30- to 45-minute sessions included decoding stress methods, “Carb Craze” information, facts and myths about popular trends, and “Fitness on the Fly.”
