Henderson Ward Stewart Students were introduced to the Move to Learn program in a special assembly Wednesday.
The program is funded by the state of Mississippi and the Bowen Foundation, and offers students a chance to stretch and move during class transitions, through a series of five-minute videos, allowing students a break from sitting still all day.
“Just any kind of exercise movement in the classroom helps their brain to be able to work,” said HWS school nurse Mary Esther Elam. “It’s been proved scientifically that endorphins are released in your brain, and it just helps you to be able to concentrate a little bit better in the classroom.”
Elam said she first heard of Move to Learn after hearing Mississippi Department of Education and Bowen Foundation Division Director Larry Calhoun speak at a school nurse’s conference. She asked Calhoun to come to HWS and present Move to Learn.
“This is the first time that we’ve had Move to Learn come … This is the first Starkville group that they have done in a while,” Elam said.
She added that she would do her best to see that Move to Learn was adopted throughout HWS.
“The kids can’t always go out and play at recess, so we’re hoping that the (Move to Learn) website will be able to provide another way of (providing) movement in the classroom,” Elam said.
“There’s a lot of research out there that talks about activity and academic performance,” Calhoun said. It’s not a case and effect, but there is a correlation between the two. This is going on the fifth year.”
For more information on the program, visit www.movetolearnms.org.