No Holding Back at Burnette Elementary!

burnette elementary

When Burnette Elementary accepted the Fire Up Your Feet Challenge (FUYF), there was no holding back.

There were so many opportunities to be active and challenge our 700+ students to be physically fit and fired up about exercising. Since our students were not able to walk to school because of our location, we focused on school centered activities. Located in Suwanee, Ga., Burnette Elementary prides itself on instructing at the highest level and achieving beyond belief. Our philosophy carries over into the health and wellness of its students and was the primary reason FUYF was a perfect match.

The week before the challenge, students entered their information into laptops setup in the gym. The students enjoyed entering their own information for the challenge and our principle and staff loved that we combined technology with fitness.

Weekly activities promoted Fire Up Your Feet with posters, weekly announcements, newscasts in our classrooms, our mascot “Bernie” and our weekly newsletter, the Burnette Blast.

The weekly activities were filled with a variety of fitness events including:

  • Week 1: Students fired up their feet to music and cheered their classmates on in competition with a four minute run around the gym.
  • Week 2: Students had an exciting recess party with hula hoop and jump rope contests, basketball games, four square challenges and of course dancing!
  • Week 3: Students were challenged to fire up with the one mile marathon. Feet were “smoking” as students ran laps around the outdoor playground. Times were taken by our P.E. teachers and recorded. Popsicles were given out at the finish line as a token of encouragement, but the students were so motivated by the challenge, many wanted to run again.
  • Week 4: Students stepped foot on the highly anticipated obstacle course. Over 15 challenging obstacles were setup for students to balance, crawl, roll, slide, run, jump and wiggle through.

Who ever thought school activities could be so fun?

Our health and wellness committee worked closely with our P.E. teachers to promote and organize the challenge. We utilized FireUpYourFeet.org for resources and conference calls to gain knowledge of the best utilization of the program. In addition to the challenge, students were given a fitness calendar for the month and encouraged to complete one activity per day. Students included their family and friends with their activity which seemed to have a lasting impression, while helping others stay active.

Thank you, Fire Up Your Feet. Burnette had a blast!


 

Lisa Landry is the activity tracker coordinator for Fire Up Your Feet’s program at the Burnette Elementary School PTA.