Isn’t spring great! The snow has disappeared and gym classes are heading outside! Soccer, touch-football, and softball are all in the schedule for May and June. The Earl Grey Running Club will begin on Tuesday, May 8^th for students in gr’s 4-8; a great opportunity to increase fitness, enjoy the outdoors, and make new friends. In addition, the gr. 4-6 students have the added bonus of being able to compete in the annual Fit Run to be held June 5th a.m. at Assiniboine Park.

As a result of all the exciting opportunities that occur in May and June it means our lunch-time intramural program has come to an end.  These lunch time slots are replaced by Running Club practices and track and field competitions; students should check the gym bulletin board for practice or competition times.

The grade 5-8 Mini-Olympics officially kick off on May 10^th with the opening ceremonies. A variety of events and activities will occur during the following weeks including the Olympics themselves on May 17^th and culminate with the closing ceremonies on Friday, May 18^th. Students who excel during the schools Mini-Olympics may be invited to attend the divisional track meet on May 24^th  and 29^th at the University of Manitoba.

I would like to remind students and parents that although spring is a great time to start wearing sandals and flip-flops, it is extremely important to have good running shoes for gym classes.  Good shoes increase participation and help prevent many injuries.

Tips for the Month of May:

• Quality physical education programs have been shown to: enhance learning readiness, improve academic performance, enrich self-esteem, deter antisocial behavior, restrain drug and alcohol abuse, and reduce absenteeism.
• Schools that offer quality physical education programs – even when time is taken from the academic day – post positive effects on academic achievement, including increased concentration, improved scores in mathematics, reading and writing, and reduced disruptive behaviors.
• School programs are more important for increasing children’s energy expenditure because children are less likely to participate in physical activity in the absence of adult supervision.
• Children who are physically active during the day in school are much more likely to be physically active after school as well.
• Children need at least 60 minutes and up to several hours of activity daily.  It can be accumulated in many short (15 minutes minimum), intermittent bouts of activity and need not be done as continuous exercise.
• Physical activity has substantial health benefits for children and adolescents, including favorable effects on endurance capacity, muscular strength, body weight, and blood pressure.
• Positive experiences with physical activity at a young age help lay the basis for being regularly active throughout life.
• Exercise has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression and raise self-esteem.  Removing such emotional barriers may help children focus more in the classroom.
• Very young children also may learn partly through movement.  Physical activity helps them learn about various spatial or temporal relationships.

From: http://www.walkingworksforschoolstn.com/fast_facts/school_benefits.shtml