Principals' Fitness Challenge 5 Winner

Congratulations to principal Dr. Tammy Rountree and her staff from Cora Spencer Elementary for winning the fifth challenge in the Methodist Mansfield Medical Center's Principals' Fitness Challenge.

 

Challenge 5 was entitled, Fitness on the go. Dr. Rountree and her staff discovered creative ways to incorporate physical activity into their day, and every bit of effort really added up.

 

From the challenge: "Your day is filled with opportunities to get moving. Make every minute count. Every bit of physical activity makes a difference, even if it's just a matter of walking a little further while running an errand. When you need to talk to a co-worker, walk to their office or desk rather than e-mailing or calling them. Stand, don't sit! Standing up burns more calories than sitting. When walking to and from work – or at any time in your day – walk briskly."

 

Easy ideas to try:

1. Park in the furthest parking spot from your school (or from a business on the weekends)
2. Grab a partner and take a full lap around the outside of your school (or an equivalent distance on the weekend)
3. Park in the furthest parking spot from any business you go to (may substitute an extra lap around your school if you don't plan on running any errands after work)

What would you add? What are some easy ideas for fitness on the go?

Elementary teacher is a real Ironman

We love hearing about cool staff news like this from Reid Elementary:

"One of our 4th grade teachers, Mary Costa (pictured at right) is now an official Ironman. She completed the Ironman at Panama Beach in Florida on Saturday, November 6, 2010. In order to be an Ironman, you must complete the entire race in under 17 hours. She completed it in 13 hours and 41 minutes. The first part of the race was a 2.4 mile ocean swim, the second part was a 112 mile bike race and the last part was the marathon run of 26.2 miles. There were 3000 participants in the race and she finished 1663. In her division of women ages 40 – 44 she finished 64th.

Mary has completed 28 marathons over the years. She completed 12 triathlons this past year to prepare herself for the Ironman.

The faculty and students at Martha Reid supported her and encouraged her as she was preparing and she said that knowing they were all thinking about her helped her get through it when it got tough."

Thanks to Reid Elementary for sharing the news.

If you have any interesting staff stories, share them with Communications via our News Tip form or call 817-299-6345 or just e-mail info[at]misdmail.org.

Principals' Fitness Challenge 3 Winner

Congratulations to principal Christie Alfred and the staff from Worley Middle School for winning the third challenge in the Methodist Mansfield Medical Center's Principals' Fitness Challenge.

Challenge 3 was entitled, Move a little, lose a lot.

Alfred motivated her staff by appointing team leaders who encouraged teachers to participate in the challenge, sending friendly reminders to keep moving and deeming Wednesday “jeans day” — all in the spirit of fun, healthy competition.

Christie Alfred’s leadership abilities extend well beyond the Principals’ Fitness Challenge. She was recently promoted to Frontier High School/Ben Barber Career Tech Academy.

Make physical activity a regular part of your day. Choose activities that you enjoy and can do regularly.

Check out the challenges as they're posted and get some additional tips for healthy living.

Principals' Fitness Challenge 1 Winner

Congratulations to principal Scott Shafer from Brooks Wester Middle School for winning the first challenge in the Methodist Mansfield Medical Center's Principals' Fitness Challenge.

Challenge 1 was entitled, Walking for better health . . . Walk 10,000 steps everyday.

Shafer is a former athletic trainer and is known for his competitive spirit. He won the challenge by motivating his teachers to walk the minimum amount of steps. If they walked the minimum they could wear jeans for week. His strategy worked and all 66 teachers walked the minimum amount of steps.

Check out the challenges as they're posted and get some additional tips for healthy living.

How I keep fit at school

Post submitted by MISD Staffer Lauren Shields

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity has tripled and in the year 2010, it is predicted that one in five children will be obese. I don’t know about you, but that breaks my heart. We are in the education field to help children so we need to lead by example. It is so easy to be lazy, but what does that accomplish besides giving you a poor cardiovascular system and a short road to depression?! I love kids, but I love fitness as well. I am a also a fitness coach for a company called Beachbody on the side of teaching.

Here is a link to a simple total body workout I like: http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/l/bltotalworkout.htm

Also, adding cardio to your daily routine is a great idea! Here’s some ways I add it to my school routine:

• Try walking the longest way possible to get where you’re going. If you’re in a hurry, pick up the pace!


• On your conference period, take 10 minutes to walk at a brisk pace around the school or outside. With your students, do jumping jacks for math answers, squats while spelling words, or push-ups before a language lesson. Remember, we are to set the example, so participate with them!


• If you have to lecture for a while, take frequent breaks that involve movement. Squats and lunges target the largest group of muscles in your body so you will burn more calories that way.

Lauren Shields is an ESL teacher at Boren Elementary and also works as a fitness coach in her spare time. We love our guest posts, but our lawyer would want us to tell you that the opinions and advice above are the author's and not officially those of Mansfield ISD.