Elementary school students volunteer for early morning classes
Many people find it difficult to get out of bed really early in the morning - especially when it's still dark outside.
For a group of 16 Sunset Elementary School third-, fourth- and fifth-graders, getting up early to be at the Airway Heights school at 7 a.m. each Tuesday and Thursday was easy - they got to do some cool ninja stuff.
That wasn't exactly what Sunset physical education teacher Nels Radtke had in mind when he decided to commit to showing up even earlier in forming the Falcon Fitness Club this past February. Radtke, who also runs week-long summer camps for Sunset students, wanted to see what impact, if any, early morning physical activity would have on students over the course of the school day in areas such as behavior, focus and confidence.
Radtke put out the call for students in February, thinking he'd be fortunate to get maybe a dozen. Twenty-eight signed up, forcing him to limit the first class to 16 students. Radtke also made sure they understood the commitment they were making.
"It's quite a contract for them," Radtke said.
Radtke chose the ninja warrior theme because it's popular right now, thanks to the TV show "American Ninja Warrior." Instruction consists of concentrated work each Tuesday on four aspects of physical health: arms, legs, core and aerobics (cardio). Thursday's are challenge days where get a chance to improve their scores at each station.
The last Thursday of the month is "Sunset Ninja Challenge Day," where Radtke sets up a 10–11 station American Ninja Warrior-style challenge course. Each of the stations requires skills in the four areas, such as a rope swing, balance beam beneath a hoop, unbalanced beam, a climbing wall exercise where the student is required to carry a small ball from one end to the other and a couple video-game type stations created by Radtke.
Besides the challenge course, another favorite activity for the students is playing a game near the end of the sessions. Students get to pick the game.
"And we pretty much always pick dodge-ball," Sunset student Gregory Chute III said.
Most of the students said they have little difficulty getting up earlier on Tuesdays and Thursdays to take part in the club. Lily Slater said she often gets up early and runs around the block, but is limited in doing this when the weather gets cold.
"Since I couldn't do that, and my mom is super busy, I did this," she said.
Radtke said he has noticed physical changes in the students. He's also heard the club may be having impacts besides physical.
"If nothing else, confidence," he said. "Several teachers have told me they've noticed several positive changes in behaviors."
All of the students said they would continue doing the club. Radtke said he plans to expand it next year to two groups, and while he might look for a new theme, he might also stay with the current one.
"Ninja is still pretty popular," he said.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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