ABS Fit Kids 
May 18th 2017 

Yesterday was a wonderful day for Fit Kids. At first we had some concerns that we might have to work around a thunder storm, but as we neared the dismissal of school all radar showed that any storm wouldn't hit until later on that evening. 

With that information we felt comfortable heading into the woods and attempting to see if we could find a short cut to the famous Falls location. 

We started out by cutting through the Mountains Edge Condo parking lot and trudging up Ski Tow road towards where the road ends. Before we came to the end of the road we took a side trail that our wonderful parent volunteer Natalie told me about. 

Staggering the groups as we headed out to the into woods I heard via the radio the request from the group before us if it would be alright to get their feet wet in the water. Now I knew that a slight stream rans through the Last Mile trail. So I just assumed it was a slight break in the trail and they just wanted to get their feet wet. When I came around the bend I saw that I was extremely and that this slight detour was in fact a fun destination. 

All of the members feeling hot and over tired just jumped right into the water. Some members a bit more then others, but no matter who they all loved the refreshing cool water. Even Emmett took a slight break in the stream. Lying right down in one of the small wadding pools. 

With everyone enjoying the water and a majority of them soaked it seemed to be fruitless to have them gear back up to trudge further on the trail. So instead we remained in the water until 4:30. At that time they got their socks and shoes back on. Picked up any water bottles, backpacks and anything else that had be disposed by our group. 

All of the members seemed to be extremely happy with our journey and even though it wasn't the so called Falls that everyone has wanted to go to. I think it didn't matter in the long run, because everyone had a great time enjoying nature! 

This coming Tuesday we will be getting large rocks and bring them back to the Warming Hut to paint. We will be using them for decorations to show our appreciation for using the Warming Hut. If anyone has an paint brushes or acrylic paint they wish to donate to the decorating of the rocks please drop them off at ABS Main Office before Tuesday at 2. 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Taking a slight breather on the trail

Making a game plan.. or just chatting? 

The Bridge heading into the Mile Long Field

ABS FIT KIDS

May 16th 2017

Today was a wonderful day for an adventure in nature. The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect and everyone was super excited to get outside and hike. Many of the ABS Fit Kids members wanted to go to The Falls but we have to work on timing so that each member gets some quality time in that magical place. Between myself and Mrs. Aldrich we have a plan that should help us out with this, but we will need some more additional adult support. So if you want to volunteer with us and go to The Falls please feel free to come and join us!! 

Now for what we did today. We ventured towards the same trail that would take us to The Falls. We went down the Snowbridge and got onto the bike trails that wind through the side hill that was at one time the beginner ski slope. Staying on that trail we came onto Skyhawk Lane. Typically, in the past we would go directly into the Quiet Zone that is kind of a short cut towards the Mile Long Field . Right now the Quiet Zone is closed due to the trail being so muddy. That meant we went down to the Mile Long Field via Skyhawk Lane. 

We walked in pairs on the left hand side of the road onto Mountain Side Drive and over the bridge to the Mile Long Field!! Then we went about half way up Mile Long Field and then went to the side of the field and dipped onto a trail in the woods. 

The trail brought us over a wonderful little wooden bridge and then we trekked up the trail that leads us to the intersection of either Last Mile or Raina's Run. Original I had wanted to take Last Mile that would take us across the mountain back towards the Warming Hut. Time just wasn't on our side so we went down Raina's Run and back the way we came. 

It's always crazy how quickly we can travel when a majority of the terrain is going downhill!! Our total millage was 3.2 miles. A fun 3.2 miles!! 

Thank you to Mandy, who was our parent volunteer today and of course to Ms. Meghan who has been faithfully coming with her two wonder dogs Mia and Cookie Monster. You ladies ROCK! 

Looking forward for our next adventure on Thursday! Please make sure you communicate any changes with your child's Fit Kids plans with the main office or send me an email. Also still looking for paperwork for some of our members. I need the paperwork back ASAP or else your child might not be able to participate after this week. (until the paperwork has been turned in) 

May 11th, Fit Kids Day 2

ABS Fit Kids 

Day 2 

Sprits were high as the sun shined brightly on us this afternoon and the temperature neared the low 60's. Members came off the bus with great excitement and we quickly broke them all into their Fit Kids Club groups. 

The groups are an important key in keeping us all together while we are on the trails. We can get a quick indication using these buddy groups wither we are missing anyone and if on the off chance someone is missing we can locate the area in which they might have been dislodged from the group quickly so we can all be reunited very quickly.

How it works is the members of the group can walk with their friends that might be outside of their safety group. However, they need to keep members of the groups with in sight of each other. So when a whistle blows they can quickly gather together and await instructions. We practice this on several occasions before we actual ventured onto the trails and could see already how quickly we can give information to each other by passing messages backwards and forwards amongst the groups. 

It also gave myself and the other adults involved the ability to see the students that are the older ones with in their group taking on leadership roles. Already we are seeing some students doing some great team work. 

One group was great on having their leader checking in within her group on several occasions while walking on the trail and another member of the same group being a great sport in lugging all of her teammates water bottles. 

For me I learned that I should have gotten in a bit of better shape before taking the lead! hahaha.. I started to get my second wind as we started to get towards the end of the hike, but I was so impressed with how wonderful the members of our Fit Kids Club were in being patient with all of the different abilities of physical fitness we all brought to the group. 

What I find especially wonderful when hiking on the trails with our Fit Kids Club members is the conversations that develop amongst myself and the other members of the club. The freedom of being outdoors seems to allow a sense of comfortableness over come each of the members as they discuss with myself, the other adults and with in their peers. About different aspects of their lives and things they are generally interested in. They also give their thoughts about stuff that takes place at school and their general perspective of life. 

Thank you parents/guardians in signing out each of your child/children. Since the location of the Warming Hut can be reached by different routes it's so important to make sure we see each member leave with their ride. For students that live on the mountain, I don't mind releasing them with out a parent/guardian present so long as I have prior knowledge before hand. So please shoot me an email just stating your child has permission to leave the Warming Hut at 5pm and to walk home either to the Mountain Edge Condos or the Windsor Building. 

Another important reminder, we do not have the ability to return students to the school for FLC. If you encounter transportation issues that arise after dismissal at ABS. Please send me an email or you can text me the change in plans to my cellphone at 802-291-2370. I am NOT good about picking up the phone to talk, so texting is generally the best thing to do, or if you do happen to call please leave a message and I will give you a  call back. 

Email address again is annalise.ennis@wsesu.net . Other adults on the mountain during Fit Kids Club is Andrea Powell andrea.powell@wsesu.net. Jenifer Aldrich is also on the mountain during Fit Kids Club, however she doesn't get cellphone reception. 

*We are still looking for Parent, Guardian, Young Adult volunteer help! To join us at 3pm Tuesday and Thursday (for the month of May) and just Tuesdays (starting in June) at the Warming Hut to join us in our Fit Kids Adventures. We welcome community members, older siblings and former ABS alumni. Even if you can't join us for many sessions, thats no big deal. It would just be great for all of us, members and adults. To extended friendships beyond just ABS staff. 

Also, young adults, who are currently in Middle School and High School, volunteering at ABS Fit Kids Club can be used towards your community service hours that a majority our area high schools require you complete before you can graduate from high school. 

JUNE 20th- that is the last day of school for the 2016/2017 school year. It's a half day, students will be bused up to the mountain and we will hike from 12:30-till 3pm. Perhaps we might even make it up to the top of the mountain? Following our hike we will be back at the Warming Hut around 3pm. At 3pm I welcome families to join us for a celebration. We will have snacks, like watermelons and possibly ice cream sandwiches. If parents want to join us for the hike that would be wonderful. If you have a child that hasn't been a part of Fit Kids they are more then welcome to join us. They just need to come with either a parent/guardian or older sibling to watch them. 

Also we are always looking for donations, like healthy snacks (i.e granola bars etc), bottled water or snacks to go towards the June 20th celebration. Also if anyone is able, finical donations would be gladly welcome to go towards prizes and possibly Fit Kids Club t-shirts or hats. 

ABS FIT KIDS 2017 Season

Emmett snuggling with an overgrown Peep. Emmett is one of the pups that likes to join us for Fit Kids

ABS FIT KIDS CLUB

2017 Season 

KICKS OFF!!!

Today, May 9th marked the first ABS Fit Kids Club for this school year! 

It was great to get everyone outside for the first FKC session. We had many returning students, but also a lot of new faces joining the club this year. Which is wonderful!! 

We are station out of the Warming Hut brought to us by Ascutney Trails. Deb Shearer was wonderful in meeting us there and we went over general housekeeping. 

One of the most important thing was for the members of the club to come up with RULES for the club. Rules that the club members agreed on were as follows:

ABS Fit Kids Club 

rules 2017

* Respect

-Each other

-The Environment

-Ascutney Trails Community

-Be Kind of each other

*Dogs

-Listen to the owner

-Don't yell at the dogs

-Don't pick up the dogs

-Don't feed the dogs, unless you have owners permission

*Safety

-Wear correct clothing, shoes etc 

-Stay TOGETHER on the trails

-Listen to the adult leaders 

-Don't throw anything, at anybody

-Stay on the trails

After we worked on the rules, we then broke up into small groups. Those small groups worked on getting up to the top of the rope tow with their group all together.  

Then going down the hill they worked on doing a form of leap frog, instead of jumping over their teammates. They instead gave each other High Fives. This worked on getting them down the hill safely. Cause of course a majority of them wanted to just run down the hill. 

We did more team building exercises, then took another break before we went up another trail. We didn't go too far up the trail, because soon parents/guardians began to show up for 5pm dismissal. 

All in all it was great to be back on the mountain again and to start another session of Fit Kids Club! 

Thursday May 11th starting at 3pm is our next session. With dismissal being the same at 5pm. We will be located once again out of the Warming Hut. The Warming Hut location will be the location we will use for the whole duration of Fit Kids Club. 

*New on Thursday is a parent/guardian sign out sheet! It will be located on bench of the Warming Hut on a clip board. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE remember to sign out your child/children before you leave the Warming Hut area. With so many members this year and so many access points to retrieve children from. It's very important for us to make sure we can account for how each child left the Warming Hut area!! 

*PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SENT IN ALL REQUIRED PAPERWORK FOR YOUR CHILD*** All paperwork that was sent home needs to be back to me by Thursday, Monday at the latest. If the paperwork isn't turned in by Monday then your child will have to sit out of Fit Kids until the paperwork is received. If you have any questions/concerns about any of this please email me at annalise.ennis@wsesu.net 

*We are looking for young adult volunteers to help us out with our hikes. If you have a middle school student or up that wishes to volunteer with Fit Kids Club we would love to have them. Also volunteering with Fit Kids Club can go towards a higher schoolers community service hours a majority of them need in order to graduate from high school. It's also a great way to meet families with in the Brownsville Community that could be in the need of babysitters. 

Thank you all who donated $30 towards ABS Fit Kids Club. Finical donations made to the club goes towards purchasing snacks, extra water bottles, sunscreen, bug spray and other needed items to make the club successful. I'm also hopefully that with additional donations we might be able to throw a wonderful end of the year celebration on June 20th, our last day of school and our last day of ABS Fit Kids Club for the school year. 

5K Fun Run & Fit Kids Information

ABS Fit Kids Club

5K Fun Run 

June 1st 2016

Wednesday June 1st was the official last day of the ABS Fit Kids Club. To mark this occasion we held the ABS Fit Kids Club 5K Fun Run. Which was each member of the club (plus some friends and family members) running 10 laps along the walking path that surrounds Albert Bridge School. 

With music blaring from both the front of the school and behind the school reaching the furthest part of the soccer field set up. Sprinkler station to help combat the heat was on blasting away on the black top behind the school! Balloons were stationed along the way marking the trails for a little reminder to all running to stay on the path it made the atmosphere surrounding ABS ready to RUN!

As each participate filled up their water bottles, or ran inside to get drinks from the water fountain. I handed them each a party noise maker to help encourage/excite them before they took off. Causing the playground at ABS for about 5 minutes to be drowned in a sound that I think could be describe as a chorus of dying geese! But it got them ready to rock and having had experience with noise makers, I knew that a majority of them would be out of working order around lap 5. 

At 3:08 pm everyone had lined up side by side as best they could and at 3:09 pm they were off! Many of them started off fast and with great effort. A lot of the older members of the club had their 10 laps done in under 27 minutes. Some of the younger members could have easily come in with their older peers. However the sprinkler station was a great place to be and many of them lingered there for some fairly long breaks. All in all though it didn't really matter since they made up for it in sprinting to make it back to the sprinkler station after they had been pushed along by an adult. 

It was a great afternoon with so many different highlights of the day. The ones that stick in my mind are seeing so many kids feel good about themselves when they finished! Proudly displaying their wrists to myself and other members of the club to validate their success in running their first 5K!!! Another was seeing the kids that might have not been in the best physical shape starting out in the club come in strong and showing that they've not only achieved the ability to finish a 5K physically, but mentally. I also loved seeing some of the kids get to share the afternoon running with their parents, or friends. Laughing at getting sprayed by someone "accidentally" at the sprinkler station. Or perhaps taking a quick break in the outdoor classroom. These are just a few of my personal highlights that come to mind. 

At 4:30 pm everyone had finished and it was time to have some treats. With some ice cream sandwiches (not the healthiest, but on a hot day kind of called for). Everyone took a seat in the shade and listened while Andrea and I passed out awards. 

Now I had original thought I wouldn't do awards for the Fit Kids Club. That the reward was in how you start to physical and mentally feel better as you become more and more physical fit. Than as time went on and we all spent more time outdoors with our members of the ABSFKC I started to feel that I wanted them to have some form of acknowledgement on what a great job they've been doing. So we made up awards for them each individual. 

Some of our awards were "The Happy Hiker Award", "The Emmett Award" (given in the name of my dog Emmett who had become a regular in the Fit Kids Club when hiking the trails at Ascutney), "The Glamours Hiker Award" and "The Whistler Award". Of course these are just an example of some of the awards given. On each award was also a reason behind why they had received this award. This was something I especially enjoyed doing for them. It made me laugh at some of the memories that had been made while doing Fit Kids. 

Especially with one student who received "The Gentleman Award". He got it because he was so into helping out his fellow classmates and friends on our hikes. He was especially helpful on our last hike to The Falls. As he walked down the trails towards the parking lot he had found himself amongst a majority of the girls (from his class). All of them feeling tired and ready to be in the parking lot right at that moment!! To help them feel a bit better along the way. He would stop, hand them their water bottles, put their water bottles back in his backpack or carry anything additional they didn't want to carry anymore.. He also spent a lot of time talking to them, making them laugh. He would also check on them from time to time. 

Well one girls had injured her toe at home over the long weekend and was having a hard time with her shoe rubbing her foot. That when we got to the top of Mile Long Field. She asked if she could take off her shoes and I felt that perhaps it was worth a try. So she took them off and began to walk down. 

Shortly after that I had gone a bit a head of this group to check up on someone. Once I had doubled checked on that situation I turned back towards this last group heading down Mile Long Field. When I looked up I had a incredible hard time not to burst out laughing. The sight I saw was this young man coming down the hill with all of his might, huffing and puffing as he carried down the girl without her shoes on. She laid over his shoulder like a bag of beans. The only thing visible of her was her legs and her behind. The young man quickly shouted out "I got her Mrs. Annalise, she was just to tired to walk so I told her I would carry her." I told him that it was extremely gallant of him to carry her down, but for the safety of himself he needed to put her down. He did fairly quickly and we all went on our way to the parking lot. 

It was a sight that just has to make you chuckle and so when I came to him I knew what kind of award he should get!

We had many moments like this one this in the ABSFKC. It was a great experience to be out in the woods with all of these kids. The exploring we got to do amongst the different trails on the mountain was great. I've gone up there now on several occasion by myself with Emmett because I know have even better knowledge of what trail leads were and I look forward to being able to share that knowledge in future Fit Kids Club. 

So with that I have to say thank you to all the people that helped support the ABS Fit Kids Club! Without the support of the parent/staff volunteers it would have been incredible hard for this to have happened. I'd like to thank Andrea Powell for following me along and supporting me with everything and never, ever asking me "are you sure" as I lead us along the trails! (hahaha). I would also especially like to thank Jenifer Aldrich for her support. Jenifer rearranged her music lesson schedule from the typical Wednesday afternoon slots to another night so that she could be with us when we went up on Mount Ascutney. Often time Jenifer was a great support in bring up the rear and I always had a great peace of mind knowing she was there!!! I would also like to thank several of our faithful parent volunteers like Kaija Percy (Trinity & Tydus mom) who came on many hikes and learned how to do some African Dancing with us. Dana Deschamp  (Olivia's mom) who also joined us for many of our hikes!!! Alice and Tim Mello (Maggie's mom) for being a great support and an extra set of eyes and to Ethan Mello!!!! I also need to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to April Sykes who helped make sure I had all Fit Kids Club members and our bus driver John who helped transport a majority of the students up to the mountain on Wednesdays!

I would also love to give a shout out to my 6th Graders who did Fit Kids. These young adults were outstanding in their leadership skills and extremely helpful to myself, Andrea and the younger members of the Fit Kids Club. Overall each of these students showed tremendous skills in problem solving, leadership skills, creative problem solving and were always willing to engage in anything new. With that I'd like to say thank you to Sarah, Caitlyn, Dustin and Joe. I wish you all well in your next journey away from ABS and like to say you are always welcome to come for a hike with the ABS Fit Kids Club. 

With that I wish everyone a great summer!! I will be updating this blog from time to time this summer. If anyone has any events that involved fitness or being out in nature feel free to send it along to me and I will put it here!! If anyone has any stories of great trails they've explored along the way and want to write it up, I will be happy to post it here. Just send it to annalise.ennis@wsesu.net 

*Also if any of your children who were apart of the club wish to write anything about their experience they are welcome to do so!!!!

Future of Fit Kids Club.. I plan on it having a future and will post more about that as time goes on. Hopefully something will be in the works for the fall of this coming school year. 

UP AND COMING EVENTS:

West Windsor 5 & Dime Race (ages 14 & Under are free, adults are $20) information is at the following : http://ascutneyoutdoors.org/new-events/ww5dime

Check out the Woodstock Recreational Center: They have many children camps going on through the summer time and for the first time this year a Flag Football League is being started. Sponsored by the NFL, coached by Woodstock Football players and Coaches. Starting June 29th through August 17th. Practices are Monday's and Wednesday's at Vail Field in Woodstock from 5 to 6:30 pm. Grades 3rd
through 8th. More information at http://www.woodstockrec.com/info/default.aspx

Windsor Recreation Department also has many different summer camps and activities going on. You can check out the online flyer at http://www.windsorvt.org/recreation-department/

Also don't forget that at our own Albert Bridge School will be having a summer school session on Tuesday and Thursdays 8:30-4:30pm through out the month of July. The first part of the day will be towards academic work while the second half of the day will be centered around Fun Stuff!! If you are interested please get in touch with Jenifer Aldrich at (802) 484-3344

Fit Kids Club 5K Fun Run

ABS Fit Kids Club Fun Run

3 p.m at Albert Bridge School 

Tomorrow is the ABS Fit Kids Club Fun Run at the Albert Bridge School!! It will take place right after the dismissal of school.  (3 p.m.)

The course is going to be the walking path around the school. (the students go around it during recess for laps). Each student will have to do 10 laps around the school to equally the same length of a 5K. 

At the completion of the race students will find snacks for them to munch on and can hang out with friends, family and classmates. 

For students that have been participating in the Fit Kids Club this year. Each kiddo just needs a water bottle, a snack to start out and sneakers!!! The day will be like a typical Monday with pick up time happening at 5 p.m. Of course I welcome all and everyone that would like to come earlier and cheer on kiddos as they run their laps. (you are also welcome to run a lap or more with your child)

For students that wish to participate that have not been apart of Fit Kids Club they need to have a PARENT/GUARDIAN/ADULT that will be in charge of that student through out the race. This is in case of any accident/injury that might happen. We need a person that can be responsible for the child to be on site during the race. Any student that remains after school to participate in the race without this will be brought over to FLC, or be asked to sit out and not allowed to participate in the race. Kiddos also running in the 5K will need sneakers, water bottle and a snack!!! 

This race has typically been done as a warm up for the Girls On the Run 5K. It will be set up similar to this race. Most likely we will have a sprinkler set up for kids to run under due to the temperatures. We will have water on hand for students to fill up their water bottles. However we will not have cups or bottled water!!! Thats why its extremely important for students to bring something to drink water out of from home, or bring their own bottled water!!! 

If you wish to bring a snack to share with the students that would be wonderful and we welcome that!!! The number of students that will be there will be around 40. 

At the end of the race students who have been participating in the ABS Fit Kids Club this year will get a certification for their time in the club. 

Fit Kids Club Fun 5K race is a great way for the kiddos in the club to gaged how their physically fitness has changed since they started the club. To also give them an idea on what a 5K is like. I also hope that this will get the excited about doing the 5K on Mount Ascutney June 18th, called the 5 & Dime. This race flows through some of the same trails we've used in the Fit Kids Club and I think many of the kids would enjoy doing this 5K Race. Its free for children 14 and younger. 

You can check out the race information on:
 For Kids 14 and under to sign up click on this link https://docs.google.com/a/wsesu.net/forms/d/1uWcCgeKKvz0PMy783x9FZMPYYOvIs8M5kiW4W92BDRA/viewform

For Adults or Kids 14 and up us either:

http://www.wnhtrs.com/index.php?nav=48 or http://ascutneyoutdoors.org/new-events/ww5dime

Hope to see a lot of you tomorrow at 3 p.m!!!!

p.s. We will not be responsible for any items left behind after the race, or before the race. Please make sure upon leaving the school that your child has all the items they came to school with!!! Any backpack or items such as that will be left at the school. 

Last Fit Kids at Mount Ascutney

Wednesday May 25th 2016

ABS Fit Kids Club

Last Day on the trail of Mount Ascutney

Firstly, thank you to everyone being such great sports in the change of the pick up spot yesterday. My intention had been to give out the information sooner, but with the concert I didn't have a chance to post or email the information until yesterday morning. So thank you for being flexible! 

Starting right at the start of Mile Long Field was a huge time saver and gave the kids a longer time splashing in the water. 

It was amazing in the temperature difference going from The Falls to Mile Long Field. Many of the kids left The Falls soaked and by the time we finished the mile hike back to the parking lot many of them had dried off to almost being completely dried. 

The nicest thing about The Falls is how you feel like your in a whole other world. Its truly so beautiful and I hope you all get the chance to get out there this summer. 

Our crew enjoying the water!

On the rocks beside the falls. 

Trying to get to the part of The Falls where they can put their heads under the water.

Enjoying the water!!!

My dog Emmett cooling in the water

Capturing Ms. Powell in her photo snapping action

The Crew!

Good Friends!!!

Enjoying the water

Friends Hanging out watching the fun

Looking down at the kids in bottom of the waterfall