Running head: ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION: MOVE WELL 1

Original Contribution: Move Well

Melissa Burow

American College of Education

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION: MOVE WELL 2

Original Contribution: Move Well

Participation in physical activity is a crucial component of overall health and wellness of

individuals of all ages. While there are many benefits of adequate participation in physical

activity, there are also associated health risks related to lack of participation (Piercy et al., 2015).

While physical activity recommendations vary based on age, it is recommended that adolescents

participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on a daily basis, and at

least half of this should occur within the school setting (Hood, Colabianchi, Terry-McElrath,

OMalley & Johnston, 2014). Unfortunately, more than 70% of adolescent students do not

regular meet this standard despite participation in physical education courses within the school

day (Piercy et al., 2015). The Move Well program was created to educate students of the

importance of regular physical activity participation while providing additional opportunities for

participation within the school setting. Although the Move Well program was created to target

adolescent physical activity, the program seeks to educate and involve parents, families and the

community to support the importance of creating healthy habits related to physical education.

Increasing Physical Activity at School

In the Pennsbury School District, middle school students have a 44 minute period of

physical education every day including time in the locker room. Unfortunately, this only allows

for 25 to 30 minutes of physical activity when time for instruction is also included. In order to

increase the opportunity for physical activity within the school day, Move Well has designed an

optional active lunch period. Students who chose to participate in active lunch will spend time in

the gym or outside for a portion of the lunch period. During the activity period, students will

have the option to participate in various types of physical activity for enjoyment. The last 12
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION: MOVE WELL 3

minutes of the active lunch period will allow students to eat their lunch. Active lunch provides

an alternative to sedentary lunch socialization.

Because active lunch may not appeal to everyone, the Move Well program has taken

additional steps to increase physical activity within the school setting. The implementation team

of the Move Well program has designed professional development sessions to educate teachers

of the benefits of physical activity brain breaks within the classroom to enhance student focus.

In addition, the intramural program will be enhance for after school opportunity. Throughout the

school year, the intramural program will provide different physical activities, based on student

feedback, for students with varying levels of ability. This provides a safe environment with

professionally trained staff for increased physical activity. In addition, the health curriculum will

be enhanced to include education of the importance of physical activity and how students can

incorporate physical activity participation into their lives away from school. This piece of the

curriculum will seek to meet the needs of the students as individuals and as a whole.

Using Technology for Education

The Move Well program will be closely accompanied and enhanced by an interactive

website including a blog. As the program develops, meaningful information for students,

parents, and community members will be added to the blog and other parts of the website as

additions to the program are made. Such additions, including special events, educational

sessions, and additional activities will be schedule throughout the school year and based on

student and parent feedback responses. The blog will be updated multiple times each week to

keep viewers engaged. Each week the blog will feature a physical challenge activity for students

and their families. In addition, the website will be used to gather data and student feedback to

enhance the program to meet student needs and desires. The use of technology engages students
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in a unique way, as the virtual world it creates is craved by students of the current generation

(Mears, 2012). Technology is a great way to reach and interact with students away from the

school day, while still being able to motivate them toward adequate participation in physical

activity.

Conclusion

The Move Well program is an adolescent physical activity program developed to

promote, encourage and motivate adolescent students to participate in adequate amounts of daily

physical activity by providing opportunities within the school setting. The program was

designed to incorporate daily physical activity through not only daily physical education, but

opportunity for physical activity during lunch, physical activity brain breaks within academic

class settings, and a wide variety of after school physical activities for students of all ability

levels. Although the target population is adolescent middle school students, the program seeks to

educate parents, families, and the community as well to be sure that individuals are educated on

the importance of physical activity and how to incorporate it into their daily lives to meet

recommended standards.
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References

Hood, N. E., Colabianchi, N., TerryMcElrath, Y. M., O'Malley, P. M., & Johnston, L. D.

(2014). Physical activity breaks and facilities in US secondary schools. Journal of School

Health, 84(11), 697-705.

Mears, D. (2012). The influence of technology in pop culture on curriculum and

instruction. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 83(8), 15-31.

Piercy, K. L., Dorn, J. M., Fulton, J. E., Janz, K. F., Lee, S. M., McKinnon, R. A., ... & Lavizzo-

Mourey, R. (2015). Opportunities for public health to increase physical activity among

youths. American journal of public health,105(3), 421-426.