I am excited to share with you an idea that I actually turned into a business after my 30 years of teaching Physical Education. I feel Physical Education specialists are a very creative and passionate group of people, and we are reminded of that each time we have the opportunity to attend a local, state, or national conference. I want to encourage all of you to take those ideas and make them a reality. That is what I have done with Healthy Highway – actual lessons that I taught over a 5 year period. The lessons were not only fun, but I found to be very effective year after year.

A “traffic” theme was established to teach my safe moving unit at the beginning of the year and then expanded into my nutrition unit. The theme took on a life of it’s own each year with my new ideas, as well as from the students. I found the students worked harder at taking care of their “engines.” They enjoyed learning about the 5 “fuels” to put into their engines, earning their “safe mover” license, and that the entire connotation of being a car was much more enticing for learning to be healthy. It appeared easier to “repair” if their “car” might be out of control, or that their “car” was “running on empty!” I became aware of how easy Healthy Highway was to implement, how it was sustainable year after year, how it helped to promote making healthy choices, and how fun it was! I knew I had to pass this on to other professionals in my field…and keep my passion for helping children be healthy a priority.

I had the privilege of meeting Steve Jefferies at this year’s National convention. He listened to my presentation of my program and asked me to write an article for pelinks4u. I wish to thank him for this opportunity to be able to share with you what I feel is an innovative, imaginative, educationally sound, and fun program to put into curriculums. I am just beginning, but have already established a pilot school where Healthy Highway is being used as a school wide program, where it has expanded to a before-and-after-school program to continue reinforcement of the concepts taught at the school. A second after school program has incorporated Healthy Highway into once a month family nights so parents can be involved with the objectives of the program.

And what other program has constant reminders of your key teaching concepts on signs on every road in the country!

Below you will find what I consider the benefits of Healthy Highway as well as some of the activities to begin establishing the “traffic” theme. A culminating lesson is also listed. I truly feel this is only the beginning of a great “interstate” highway that will cover the entire country. As more schools, organizations, and families start driving down this highway of learning, I will be anxious to hear of all the “road trips” that every one of the creative and passionate Physical Education specialists that are out there will create. Have a great ride!!

HEALTHY HIGHWAY

With our children’s health at risk, and research indicating that for the first time in history they may not live as long as their parents, one question arises: how do we implement a meaningful and timely program to help our children increase their nutrition and exercise knowledge? Healthy Highway is the answer.

Healthy Highway is an innovative and imaginative nutrition and exercise program for children. A progression of “traffic theme” activities encourages students to engage in fun “fuel” exercises, as well as being able to “drive” through a nutrition rich curriculum that can be easily implemented. Actual traffic signs take on both safety and nutrition slogans that reinforce key concepts. The goal is to provide interaction with the content and movement with purpose. It is based on educationally sound concepts, is fun, and it works!

Benefits of “driving” down the Healthy Highway:

• Curriculum is designed around a “car” theme to make learning fun.
• Lessons are sequential and interdisciplinary (language arts, math, health).
• Activities are meaningful that connect to students’ lives outside of school.
• Activities are “brain friendly.”
• Corresponds to criteria of Child Nutrition Act legislation for local wellness policies; addresses the child obesity issue.
• Expands into a school wide program to give consistent nutrition information.
• Coordinates with before and after school programs.
• Development of a home/school connection.
• Easy to implement.

Activities to earn a “learner’s permit”

• Each of the 6 traffic signs are connected to corresponding slogans: ex: Traffic light – stop for healthy snacks; Yield – watch out for oils, slow down on fats, pass by sugars.
• A progression of activities are then designed to reinforce these slogans: ex: nutrition bingo, memory, traffic sign treasure hunt.
• Movements are matched with each rule to enhance learning.
• Each food group is described as a “fuel” for the engines and the student’s read in their “owner’s manual” to learn more on the maintenance of their “car.”
• Foods are categorized as “red, yellow, and green light” foods.
• Exercises are matched with food groups: ex: jumping jacks as you say “carbohydrates”; bicep curls as you say “protein.”
• A theme is developed: drive on the “super 8 highway”; pull up to the drive-thru and order a food exercise of the day: apple pull, green bean lean; safety patrols to “enforce” safe movement in the hallways; speeding tickets; 4 way stop game.
• Language Arts: monthly newspaper of nutrition objectives; “traffic reports”; recipes for a healthy body; word search of key words from nutrition unit; “chefs” writing recipes for a healthy body; “food detectives” reporting on breakfast choices of staff and students and making a graph to show the results of the survey.
• Math: counting steps as “driving” to different destinations in the school.
• School wide involvement: nurse’s office: “body shop” – only come for repairs; library – “pit stop” – to read owner’s manual. Establish year end goals. Involve the PTA. Put on family nights to educate the families on the goals of the program.

Drive down the Healthy Highway
The culminating lesson is designed to celebrate the nutrition knowledge that the students have learned.

Warm up: Drive the perimeter of the gym. Have 3 circles of paper to represent the traffic light colors: green is your choice of movement: ex: skip, gallop, hop, etc; yellow is to walk; red is to stop. Set up “situations” as they drive: put their “windshield wipers” on; “out of gas” - stop and do wall push ups; “flat tire” –stop and pump arms up and down; “slippery road” – stop and sit and spin 3x on their gluteus maximus.

Healthy Highway
Students work in partners to travel the highway. This may be done with scooters where they will take turns being the driver or the passenger.

• Fuel Pump: a poster can be made to look like a fuel pump with each food group listed on the poster. Students drive up and choose a food card. They will place that card next to the food group “button” that matches their card.
• Pyramid Parking Garage: Students choose a food card and place it on the correct “parking level” that matches the food group.
• Balance Box: Students choose a food card out of a box. They then can do jumping jacks or laps according to the type of food they chose. Red light foods = 25 jumping jacks. Yellow light foods=10; Green light foods=5. This incorporates the balance of calories in and calories out.
• Workout Center: Students perform “food” exercises: green bean lean, apple pull, banana peel, orange squeeze.
• Traffic light: Students choose a food card and place it in a red, yellow, or green hoop as determined by the number of grams of fat.

By creating an imaginative and educationally sound program you will discover how fun it is to “pump” nutrition and exercise knowledge into the children’s fuel tanks.

“Healthy Highway is the perfect curriculum for those aspiring to become quality physical educators. Your students will enjoy learning about healthy eating habits and the importance of being safe on the highway, while staying actively involved through movement.”

Wendy Cooper
healthyhighway@frontiernet.net
www.healthy-highway

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