Melanie Kay-Wyatt, superintendent of Alexandria public schools, wrote a commentary piece on Mental Health Awareness Month that ran in the Alexandria Times. She says the ACPS wellness strategy “is one that focuses on improving the health of students and supporting their families.” She included Move2Learn as an additional resource for ACPS staff on the subject. Check it out.
“The mind and body are not separate. What affects one, affects the other.”
Author unknown
Every year, we report on our achievements, the impact our programs have on our students and looking ahead to the new year. We’re super proud of 2023 and are excited about 2024. Take a look!
Another Move2Learn Winter Movement Challenge has come and gone, and the results of this growing program are nothing short of amazing!
The Move2Learn Movement Challenge involves thousands of students, K-12, and is a fun and easy introduction for teachers and students to get moving throughout the day using our signature Toolkits and awesome brain boost videos.
Movement with purpose throughout the school day helps students of all ages stay on task and better focus. So they learn their best.
Without further ado, here are this year’s winners of the 10-day challenge.
Honorable mentions go to the following schools for the highest level of participation they’ve ever had:
Alexandria City High School, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy, Mount Vernon Community School, Patrick Henry ES, Samuel Tucker ES and Ramsay ES!
Oh, and a special shout out to Jen, Move2Learn’s director of programs who oversees the challenge, for being dubbed “The Brain Lady” by students!
Move2Learn’s president and CEO, Brooke Sydnor Curran, and director or programs, Jen Wiser, were recently interviewed for an article that ran in The Zebra. The article was written by the president and CEO of Kids’ First Years and focused on the power of movement as babies and toddlers into school age and beyond.
Brooke said: “We’re proud to say that movement is becoming the norm at ACPS. Also, it’s wonderful to see students and their families learn about movement, so they can do activities together at home.”
Happy 2024! The year is already shaping up to be a busy and productive year for us at Move2Learn. Our programming to help our students in Alexandria public schools feel and learn their best is well underway and continues to be a super important part of our students’ school days.
| We’re Inside the Classroom with our Active Seating Packages, signature Toolkits and Movement Challenges. The 2024 winter challenge is almost here! |
| We’re Outside the Classroom with clubs like yoga, dance, boxercise, running/walking, lacrosse, jump roping, overall movement and more. |
| We’re all about SEAL, Social, Emotional and Academic Learning, with 10 new lessons we call “Movement to Feel & Learn Your Best.” |
AND, we have another arrow in our quiver that we’re super excited about: Our new Measurement Survey that gives teachers a way to report back on their experience with our programs. The measurement experts at Magnolia Consulting guided us through the rigorous and exacting process to create a valid survey from which we’re already collecting valuable insights.
Here’s a sneak preview of the kinds of feedback we’re getting…
On Inside the Classroom
“My students will ask to use the Move2Learn Active Seating when they’re feeling tired or having trouble focusing. They go back to their seats when they feel more energized.”
On Outside the Classroom
“This is a great program for the students. They’re really engaged and really enjoy participating. Move2Learn provided a lot of support with equipment, supplies and programming.”
On SEAL
“My students need to move and the Move2Learn SEAL lessons make it easy to incorporate movement breaks. Identifying strong emotions is important, and the lessons have helped students handle them when they get in the way of learning.”
The feedback we get will inform everything we do—to make sure we’re always providing the most useful and effective programs.
Feeling the flow of yoga, the power of Boxercise, the joy of a new pair of running shoes, the rhythm of dance and step clubs—our students reap the benefits of Move2Learn’s Outside the Classroom programs to help them feel and do their best. This Giving Season, help keep these programs and all of our programs going. Donate today.
Here’s a story about how Move2Learn’s Outside the Classroom program works. Lucas, a 4th grader at one of our Alexandria public schools, is an energetic boy who’s excited about school and who loves to run. With that combo in the classroom, though, he’d be bursting at the seams with energy, so much so that he’d bolt up, out and down the hallway to calm his body and mind. The chaos he created for himself and his class was real and had a negative impact on everyone’s learning, especially his.
Then he joined the Move2Learn Morning Movers club at his school, and his days got a whole lot better! That’s the science of movement and the reason for Move2Learn’s Outside the Classroom programs. They’re so important to our students’ social-emotional health and key to their academic growth.
Classroom teachers can vouch for the improvement in behaviors and academics. April Rodgers, a PE teacher with ACPS, heads up the Morning Movers club and is a huge advocate of moving two learn. She recently put together a video for the latest ACPS School Board meeting and talks to the kids and teachers about the benefits of movement in how they feel and learn.. Have a look!
After school on Wednesdays is pretty awesome for 4th graders at William Ramsay Elementary School in Alexandria. The students, who belong to the Move2Learn Movement Club that’s led by our partner, School Nurse Jodi Bobbitt, meet until 4 p.m. for activities like dance, yoga and hiking and time to refresh and reset.
A diversity of nationalities, languages and abilities, the kids work together to make the most of their time. In addition to Ms. Bobbitt, other adult assistants include the school physical therapist, a special education teacher and a PE teacher.
For their final session this semester, the club is going to a local swim club. Most of the students have never been there, so they’re really excited. Parents and siblings are invited, too! Expanding the movement connection to home and families—we love that!
For the past year, our one-of-a-kind Outside the Classroom programs like the Movement Club have been a huge success. They’re key to not only the well-being and social-emotional health of our students, they’re absolutely key to their academic growth.
We have 10 new and 10 returning programs across Alexandria. Here’s what makes them unique:
Other awesome reasons our programs are so special? They’re FREE to students and take place right at the schools, removing barriers like cost and transportation! Plus, we make sure everyone has essentials they need to participate like shoes, socks, sports hijabs and sports bras. Equipment is needed for all the activities so we supply that, too: Items like yoga mats, jump ropes and lacrosse sticks. And we provide teachers ongoing and onsite assistance—we do everything to make them feel supported!
I’m really excited to fill you in on how our one-of-a-kind Outside the Classroom programs are going. From Alexandria City’s public elementary schools to high schools, the benefits of our 10 new and 10 returning programs are all-important to the well-being and social-emotional health of our students and key to their academic growth. Oh, and did I mention they’re fun?!
Starting with Chance For Change, a campus of Alexandria City High School, some students, normally with restricted access and no PE, now have the benefit of getting outside a couple of times a week during the school day for fresh air and exercise, to refresh and reset. And it’s a really big deal to them—and to us.
The young adults are members of the Move2Learn Walking Club, the first of our Outside the Classroom at CFC. The walks are part of their social, emotional and academic learning time that focuses on the body-mind connection and teaches them how to recognize and manage stress, anxiety and other strong emotions using movement. Understanding that body-mind connection helps them overcome feelings that get in their way of learning.
That’s the science of movement. And that’s the reason for all of our programming and why we’re committed to make it happen and keep it going for our students.
One way we do that is to make sure everyone has what they need to participate: Equipment like yoga mats, lacrosse sticks, boxercise gloves, jump ropes and fitness trackers as well as essentials like shoes, socks, sports hijabs and even sports bras—you name it, we provide it.
Our largest purchase so far has been athletic shoes—upward of 250 pairs—that we bought and delivered to students participating in nine of our programs. But first we had to measure all those feet—that was a lot of measuring.😊
All of this is absolutely FREE to students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to participate.
We’re excited about our unique programming and its growth and impact to help our students learn their best. If you’d like to learn more, feel free to reach out!
The morning was gray and drizzly, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm and energy at the RUN! GEEK! RUN! Race held last month on behalf Move2Learn. With more than 400 registrants of runners, walkers and rollers, the community sunshine was bright and warm that day.
Hosted by Ironistic, an Alexandria-based, full-service digital agency, RUN! GEEK! RUN! presented a check in the amount of $48,000 to Move2Learn Oct. 19 during a ceremony at George Washington Middle School, with a special performance by the GW Prexie Line Dancers and an appearance from RGR’s mascot, Eugene. The proceeds from the race came from the registration fees of the hundreds of participants!
Photo caption: RUN! GEEK! RUN! / Ironistic team Chris and Rita Foss with RGR Mascot Eugene present check to Brooke Sydnor Curran, president and CEO of Move2Learn.
We’ll put the money raised by the event toward our one-of-a-kind Inside and Outside the Classroom FREE programming that brings movement to Alexandria public school students throughout the day.
“We’re so grateful to RUN! GEEK! RUN! for their belief in the Move2Learn vision to transform learning through movement and their trust in us as this year’s beneficiary,” said Brooke Sydnor Curran, president and CEO of M2L. “We also appreciate all of the amazing race sponsors for helping make this spectacular event happen, with a special shout-out to The LizLuke Team and Rosemont Landscaping and Lawncare, both longtime Move2Learn sponsors as well.” (See full list of sponsors)
Photo caption: Members of the GW Prexie Dancers, pictured here with RGR Mascot Eugene, performed at the RUN! GEEK! RUN! / Move2Learn check presentation Thursday.
Move2Learn Outside the Classroom programs include activities like yoga, running/walking, dance and others. Held before, during or after school, these clubs are offered mainly to those students most in need who’ve been identified as struggling in school They’re led by trusted school staff who make these programs part of a student’s plan for success.
Inside the Classroom programs include our Active Seating Packages—from accordion stools to balance discs to under-desk pedals—that give students the freedom to move about at their desks while doing class work to increase focus to help them stay on task. That’s the science behind movement.
All of our programs are free and teach students how to recognize and manage stress, anxiety and other strong emotions using movement. Understanding that body-mind connection helps them overcome feelings that get in their way of learning.
“Move2Learn embodies RUN! GEEK! RUN!’s mission in building a fit and focused Alexandria community,” said Rita Foss, Ironistic co-founder and race director. “By creating movement opportunities before, during, and after school, Move2Learn primes students’ brains for learning. In 2022 alone, their programming benefitted 10,000+ students and hundreds of educators in Alexandria. A win-win-win for students, educators and the local community.”
Ironistic offers innovative website development and creative marketing services for businesses and organizations of all sizes and industries. From small brochure websites to custom portals, the company’s services include strategy and consulting, website/app design and development, search engine optimization, digital marketing, and website hosting and maintenance.
Ironistic exists to “make a positive IMPACT on our team, our clients, and our community.” Since 2016, hosting the annual RUN! GEEK! RUN! is one of the ways they do that.
