Overview
Lakleand Ele/Middle created the Lakeland’s Be More Fit Penny War and Health Challenge involving the entire school from May 6-17 of this past school year. The goal of the challenge was to raise money for new library books and the theme of the challenge was Healthy Living: Friends, Food, Fitness. Creators of the challenge wanted to celebrate National Mental Health Month by encouraging students to participate in activities that promote mental, nutritional, and physical health. Each day of the challenge students could earn points by contributing coins to a classroom collection, and by completing daily health challenges as a class. The classroom with the most points at the end of the two week challenge won a field trip to BeMore Boot Camp.
Time Dedication/Commitment
Upon speaking with some of the team members that put this challenge together, quite a bit of time was dedicated to planning and executing tasks. I have included the Penny War To-Do chart created by team members so you can get an idea of the work and organization that went into the challenge. Logistics of challenge needed to be worked out, materials needed to be created since this challenge was the first of its kind at Lakeland, materials needed to be distributed and/or collected, prizes needed to be decided on and secured, and promotion/communication needed to be done with students and faculty.
Materials Needed
- Healthy Challenge Flyer
- Healthy Challenge Passes
- Daily Challenges
- Morning Announcement Calendar
- Coin Collection Slip
- Penny War To-Do list, general to-do lists
Results
- Students raised over $1500 for library books during challenge
- Entire school was engaged and involved
- Challenge increased students in-classroom physical activity through daily health challenges
- Set the stage for more thought-out and interactive health challenges in the future
- Challenge caught the attention of cafeteria staff who voiced interest in becoming involved in the challenge, leading to potential SL opportunities
- Challenge created a mini-wellness team of faculty who brainstormed and executed the challenge, giving way to potential formation of a wellness committee