Loyd Elementary School pledges to be fit, healthy

By Adrienne AndersonNovember 20, 2013

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Loyd Elementary School's Partners in Education the 2nd Battalion, 58th Infantry Regiment, WRBL News 3 and TIC Federal Credit Union helped put on Loyd's first Loyd, Lets Move! event Saturday. The series provides students and their Families the opport... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BENNING, Ga., (Nov. 20, 2013) -- Loyd, Lets Move! is Loyd Elementary School's latest initiative to get students and their Families active. The school invited Loyd Families to a morning of exercise Saturday -- the first in a series of Saturday activities. It was inspired by Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative, which focuses on decreasing childhood obesity through healthy eating and exercise, according to the Let's Move website.

"It gives them an opportunity to get fit and see different ways to stay in motion and get active, rather than just playing video games, staying at home and sitting on the couch … (it's) the opportunity to have fun outside or at the gymnasium if the weather's not right." said Maj. Sean Vincent, the executive officer for the 2nd Battalion, 58th Infantry Regiment. The battalion is one of Loyd's three Partners in Education.

Students did shuttle runs, push-ups, sit-ups and completed a 50-yard dash. There are rewards for students who attend all three Saturday sessions and complete all of the events.

Soldiers from the 2nd Bn., 58th Inf. Regt., helped set up the events and Loyd's other PIE partners -- WRBL News 3 and TIC Federal Credit Union -- provided fruit and bottled water for the students.

Julia Martinez, Loyd School principal, said she wanted children to understand the importance of being fit and healthy, while including the entire Family. The school came up with a goal to do so.

Loyd's goal is to go from their elementary school to the White House, then to each military post where there is a Department of Defense Education Activity school and also to Guam and Puerto Rico and then back to Loyd, Martinez said. The school will accomplish this by tracking the minutes they exercise and converting them to miles, which are visualized on a U.S. map hung in a hallway.

With each milestone the students complete, they will be rewarded with a celebration, she said. The students will also write letters to Obama explaining the efforts they have taken to be healthy, as part of the school's writing goals.

Rose Mishkoff, the physical education teacher at Loyd, said parental involvement is key to success.

"What you do, your kids will do," she said. "And if they see you going out for a walk or a run they are going to want to do it too."

Frawn Simpson, a military spouse whose son attends Loyd, said being active was important to the Family, as well as doing activities together.

Their love of physical activity is what brought them out to Loyd's, Let's Move! The Simpsons are also part of Loyd's running club.

"Learning early on is important for later in life so that they understand heart health (and) how it helps mentally," she said. "It gives them an outlet to be able to relieve stress and also be able to live a healthy lifestyle."

As a PE teacher, Mishkoff said she wants the students to think of exercise as fun.

In the running club, a fifth-grader wants to do a half-marathon and a second-grader is training for a 10K run, she said. But no matter the goal, the important thing is to move.

"It's not hard to go for a walk as a Family," Mishkoff said. "It's not hard to take your kids out to the playground. Play with them, don't just stand there … it's good Family bonding time and it's good exercising for everybody."