Grant-A-Week WINNER
Queensborough Middle School

Fitness Days for Grade 7 Girls
Queensborough Middle School students in Grade 6 and Grade 7 were involved in extra activities during the spring of 2001. For two months, special exploratory classes were held on Friday afternoons. The classes gave children a chance to explore extra-curricular activities. A Fitness and Body Awareness class was offered to the Grade 7 girls which was designed to help adolescent girls deal effectively with ongoing social issues and with their own physical and emotional changes.

Teacher and organizer Jeanne Jensen writes:
As a physical education teacher for over twenty years and as a former Olympian ( Swimming Mexico 68 ) I have always encouraged girls to participate in every sport available to them. I teach at a school that has a very diverse population. we have approximately 500 students of which 40% are from different ethnic backgrounds. About 30% of the population are English as a Second Language students. When evaluating our P.E. programs, I worked with the community school coordinator Darlene Welch to provide our Grade 7 girls with a fun fitness/kick boxing class. Our objective was to provide the girls with a non-threatening environment where they could become more in tune with their bodies. We had all 30 Grade 7 girls sign up for the six-week program!

I participated in the class for 3 of the sessions and I was pleasantly surprised by the camaraderie that developed amongst us as the session progressed. The girls realized they were having fun and improving their fitness level at the same time. Unfortunately the girls have all moved on to high school and I am unable to get written feedback from them. I do know that many of the less physically active girls suggested we try to offer a session for this year's Grade 7 girls and we are considering providing a course during our winter term.

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