The Haines School will buy new outdoor recreation equipment worth $750, thanks to student participation in a statewide program.
The Healthy Futures Challenge, a program held twice a year by the state, asks students in kindergarten through sixth grade to write down their activities on a calendar, and at the end of each month to submit their workouts.
In order for their activity logs to be qualified, students were required to have 30 minutes of vigorous activity outside of their physical education classroom, three times per week for four consecutive weeks.
With 47 students, Haines had the highest participation among schools its size statewide, said physical education teacher Lexie DeWitt.
DeWitt said the program is useful because it encourages students to try different activities. “I encouraged them to try Zumba, or other sports that they might not otherwise try,” she said.
Students who turned in their workout calendars at the end of each month received prizes like a pedometer or flying disc.
DeWitt said she’d be buying outdoor volleyballs and basketballs with the prize money, as some indoor gear that goes outside is showing wear. “I am very proud of all the students who participated and all the teachers who reminded the students to write their workouts on their calendars,” she said.