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

Wednesday May 25th

ABS Fit Kids Club

Wednesday May 25th 

Our Plan for the afternoon!!!!

*Update on weather- as of 8:22am no sign of Thunder Storms coming our way. If this should change than we will cancel Fit Kids. Should that happen than we will send out an email via the school. 

All grades will be taking the bus up to the mountain after school. Our wonderful bus driver John will be dropping us off at the top of Mountain Side Drive. (this cuts off some time to get us out onto the trail faster)

Once at The Falls we will remain there until around 15 minutes to 5. Than we will head back down the trails, through the Mile Long Field to the being of the Mile Long Trail at the bottom of Mountain Side Drive. 

At the bottom of Mountain Side Drive is a gravel/parking area. This parking area is bit tight so some people might have to park on the side of the road. 

Leading to the bottom of Mountain Side Drive, please be aware that Mountain Side drive turns into a private driveway so just mind the sign at the base of the road. Just so we can be mindful of their driveway when parking. They are a very nice couple who have been extremely wonderful/delighted about our kids using the trails around their house and have commented on how they love having them there. So I would like to keep them feeling good about our using the trails. 

I know that many of you have heard great things about The Falls and so I truly invite anyone to come and join us at The Falls. We will be heading onto the trail around 3pm. So if you wish to meet us there we welcome it! If you can’t be right at 3pm, but wish to join us directions are as followed. 

Pick Up/Parking Directions: 

Take a right as though you are heading to the hotel. Go past the hotel parking lot to the end of the road. At the end of the road you will take a right onto Skyhawk Lane. Once on Skyhawk you’ll go by about 4 or 5 houses on your right and then you’ll come upon Mountain Side Drive. Go down Mountain Side Drive and with in a blink of an eye you’ll see the parking area. 

Coming from the condos you’ll take that dirt road on your left before you go under the snow bridge. You can either veer to your left or right and follow the road until you see Mountain Side Drive, if you veered right it will be on your right, if you veered left it will be on your left. 

Directions to The Falls: (We will mark trees along the way with red ribbons to help you find our way.) 

• You will see a newly made trail that will lead you over a newly made bridge. That is the trails that brings you to Mile Long Field. 
• Once you are over the bridge you won’t be on a trail for long when you’ll come to a base of the field. Stick to the tree line that lines on your left. Which will lead you uphill and into a little grove of trees on either side of you… Keep following the tree line on your left until you get to where the trees on your right disappear and you are standing more in an open field. 
• At that point look for an opening in the woods on your left. The trail is called Blue Dipper, but it doesn’t have a sign on it, there is a sign on a tree when you enter in the woods. Telling anyone who is walking the opposite direction of you. That you are entering into the Mile Long Field. Thats the trail you want to take. 
• You are on that trail for a very short amount of time when you’ll see another trail jetting downhill on your left. 
• Take that trial and keep on it until you get a place when another trail will converge with that one. That trail is called Cort Jester. You do not want to go on Cort Jester, you want to remain on Blue Dipper which you will do if you take a left. 
• That will take you over a bridge that has sides to it and once over the bridge, you’ll come to a small slightly steep hill that comes onto the trail called Last Mile. You will take a right onto Last Mile and proceed to go uphill.
• You’ll keep on Last Mile until you come to a junction were you will either keep moving forward or you take a right onto Rania’s Run. You will want to keep going forward and with in seconds you’ll see a sign for The Falls. Which will be on your right. 
• Follow the signs for The Falls and I’m sure the noise and with in minutes you’ll be amongst the songs of splashing water and laughing children!

Catching Up on Fit Kids

ABS Fit Kids Club

May 16th, 18th and 23rd

"Catching Up"

Its been awhile since I've gotten a chance to update this. So I'm going to do a quick game of catch up starting with last Monday, May 16th Fit Kids session. Due to the dip in temperature we stayed indoors and did different aerobic activities. One of them was African Dancing. Which was a lot of fun. The kids had a good time doing some of the dance moves that we where asked to perform. A lot of them especially loved the African dance music I put on before we even started our workout video. The beat that we were listening to it made it incredible hard not to move too!!

Once that was finish we changed our attention towards learning some Thai Chi. I felt it was important to find an activity that was going to be lead by a man. Since all of our videos, instructors and volunteer up to this point in the session have all been females. I wanted to represent the male population of Fit Kids. Let me tell you I had a hard time finding a yoga video or a pilates video lead by a male that was wearing something beyond a speedo! Knowing the age range of the kiddos with in the club I couldn't see many of them getting beyond the outfit and ever being able to listen to the actual directions. So I went with Thai Chi as another form of relaxation instead of yoga. 

Thai Chi wasn't as big of a hit as the African Dancing. I think a huge part of it had to do with the instructional video itself. It wasn't fast enough to keep everyone entertained and so I lost them about 20 minutes into the video. 

At that point it seemed like a good time to stop and move on to something else. Which happen to be playing on the playground. Despite the cold I felt everyone needed to be outside for the last 15 minutes of the club. Everyone enjoyed playing on the structure. Especially the bigger kids since they don't often get the chance to spend a lot of time on that playground. 

On Wednesday- We went up to the mountain for our normal Wednesday routine. We all worked on pacing ourself better on the trail by doing some running mixed in with the walking. The trail route we took was a shorter one which allowed us the ability to stall a bit when we came to the top of Mile Long Field. 

While walking through the field a majority of us started to sing "The hills are alive with the sound of music!" followed by cartwheels, somersaults and rolling down the hill. Andrea, myself, Jenifer and Dana (our parents volunteer) had a lot of "look at me" shouted at us. As kids attempted to do different things to progress themselves down to the bottom. 

There is something about that field that makes all of our inner child come out. You can't help but feel incredible joyful when you step into it and see the beautiful world before you! 

It was a great hike and one kiddo yelled as he ran down a trail called Home Again "its just like a roller coaster" He liked it so much he went back up the trail and did it all over again!

What was also great was feeling a great level of trust in our older kiddos. Our community is lucky to have some wonderful kids who have begun to be great leaders in the club. These individuals paces are faster than some of the younger ones (and some of us adults) and they have been wonderful at waiting at places were travels converge with others. Keeping count of any of the younger kids that have fallen into their group and being proactive in making sure everyone is acting as they should and respecting the environment we are traveling through. I'm extremely happy to see these individuals step up into these leadership roles. Especially since some of them might not general get the chance. That to me has been really wonderful!

Today- was golf day!! My husband joined us, Jade was a former Windsor High School golf coach, a two time club champion at our local Windsor Country Club, (John P Larkin) and has competed off and on in Vermont Amateur Tournament. My husband LOVES golf!!! 

So I was happy to have the ability to share some of the golf experience I have amassed due to my marriage and Jade was happy to come and give kids the chance to give golf a swing!!

Patrick Allen our wonderful gym teacher and current Windsor High School golf coach was great in loaning out the First Tee equipment that he uses in gym class for this session. Which was extremely helpful for the younger members of the club. 

For the first time the kids in the club were divided up by age for an activity. Grades 3rd thru 6th went off with Jade and worked on their swings by chipping and eventually driving. With real actual golf clubs. 

The upper age kiddos worked on the side of the field facing the river. Stations were set up so that we had 6 people hitting golf balls at one time. While others stood a safe distance behind. What each of them were working on was swing the club and pitching the ball up onto the slight knoll of a hill that sits at the back of the field. A little flag and hula hoops were placed on the top. Which gave them all a viewpoint to hit towards. 

Once they had all gotten a chance to hit. Than came the fun part of collecting the balls. Which didn't seemed to matter to many of them because they wanted to just get back to hitting them! The pitching shots soon lead to attempts at driving the ball. Which caused some sounds of golf balls hitting the trees that stand on the edge of our little field. That sound general was followed by a chorus of cheers or cries of "oh man". 

Once they all got done with their pitching and driving they moved towards putting. Which I have to agree isn't nearly as much fun! Especially since they weren't putting on a miniature golf course! 

As for the littler ones, we worked on swinging the club. With the First Tee clubs we had, each of them got a chance to hit tennis balls towards hula hoops that had been set up in different locations before them. We went over the basics like how to hold a club and all of them gave the balls they hit a great big effort. Which meant that at times the ball went super far, or it went only two feet. Its hard to learn the skill of not attempting to kill the ball. A thing that even adults tend to forget when they play a quick round. Especially when they aren't playing well!

The 1st-2nd also worked on putting, which was hard to remember that you don't hit the ball the same way as you do a wedge. So the first couple of times they did putting The tennis balls went flying as though they had hit it with a wedge. With a bit of instruction they started to get the hang of it. 

Drawing towards the close of the session the 1st-2nd graders got the chance to hit golf balls if they wished with a real wedge. At this time of the day everyone was starting to feel grumpy, over tired and hot! Due to the weather and the moods of everyone we stopped playing golf at 4:30 and they got to do free play for the rest of the session. 

All in all I have to say that in Fit Kids I saw a lot of great potential in ABS having some really wonderful golfers!!! 

ABS 

Fit Kids Club 

Days 5-8

Firstly I would like to explain to you the delay upon our return today... I'm sure your children told you something of it.. But let me show you why we where delayed! 

The Falls

Many wanted to spend the rest of the day there.

"The water isn't too cold, you're feet just have to get numb!"

All of the kids loved us going to "The Falls" today. Its a trail that can be taken off of Mile Long Field on the STAB trail system located on Mount Ascutney. Seeing how much the kids had truly enjoyed passing through a stream on our other hike on Mount Ascutney I felt that they would truly appreciate seeing this natural waterfall. 

Our only problem with getting to The Falls was getting everyone out of them. The water (according to the kids) was cold, but many of them find it extremely refreshing after hiking in the woods. Many of the kids didn't want to leave this area and wanted to spend the rest of their afternoon there. Which I can't say I don't blame them. Everything about that spot seems like something out of a movie. The volunteers at STAB have done a wonderful job in keeping this trail in great condition and I thank them all for without their countless amount of work we would be unable to give these kids this kind of experience. 

So it was a great afternoon with a lot of laughs and excitement and screams of "can we come back here again!" 

Upon leaving the wooden terrain we came back out into mile long field and the young man who was first in line said "wow, this is beautiful!" Which then lead the rest of us to actual pause for a moment and look at the landscape before us. 

Entering into Mile Long Field

It was a great afternoon. The temperatures made it apparent that summer is truly around the corner and one kiddo remarked how it was great to finally see green popping out of the trees. Today was an afternoon that made me truly happy to be out in the woods surrounded by such a great group of wonderful kiddos and wonderful volunteers! 

Speaking of volunteers I would like to give a big shout out to our wonderful principal Jenifer Aldrich who has been a regular Fit Kids Club volunteer. She has been our wonderful caboose!! Which has help us keep the flow between the different abilities that runs through our club moving as smooth as possible. So I've been extremely grateful for her help! I'd also like to say thank you to Kaijia Percy (Tydus and Trinity's mom) for helping us out the last two days. Volunteers have truly help to make this dream of the Fit Kids take flight and with volunteers we might be able to make Fit Kids not just a spring time thing! I also would like to shout out a thank you to Andrea Powell who has been my co-hort on this Fit Kids Club journey!! 

For Monday we will be at the school and then on Wednesday we will once again return to the mountain.

Only 4 more sessions of Fit Kids Club left. June 1st is the Fit Kids Club fun 5k race. Which takes place at the school. The students will need to do 10.5 laps around the schools walking path to equal (not right on the mark) 3.5 miles. Fits Kids Club fun 5k race is open to anyone. So students who have been unable to be apart of the Fit Kids Club can come and run with their friends on the 1st. Kids who haven't been apart of Fit Kids Club will be required to be there with either a parent or guardian. I'll be sending out a sign up form for anyone outside of the club to sign up. 

ABS Fit Kids Club

Day 4

April 27th 2016

 Yesterday we went to the mountain for the first time in our Fit Kids sessions. The younger members 1-3rd grade arrived at the base of the snow bridge via the ABS bus. Andrea Powell was awaiting the arrival of the younger FKC members to come off of the bus. While I walked the 4th-6th graders with Jenifer Aldrich up to the mountain. 

From there everyone got some sillies out by running around. Checking out everything that surrounded them and then coming back to listen to the directions for what we would be doing. Slowly we started walking up the mountain. Heading on the path that would have once been known as under the chairlift. We crossed over towards what had once been the top of the village chair life and came up towards the new location of the top rope tow hut. 

We took a moment to catch our breaths (mostly us adults, hahaha) and then began to follow the bike trail that took us across Screaming Eagle and into the woods towards mile long field. 

Everyone seemed to be having a great time once we started walking through the woods. Of course we had some trips and a couple scrap knees from tree roots that always seem to catch you while walking in the woods. No tears shed and everyone kept on trucking along without any complaints. 

At one part of the hike we came upon a slight stream trickling through it. Everyone stopped too look at the stream with questions on what to do next. I thought about how the stream was fairly shallow, with a good group of rocks to use as a slight bridge. I also thought how often during school times and life in general. We are often told to stay out of water. So I said "through the stream" which lead to a loud cheers of "yes!" "fit kids club rules" and "this is the best thing ever!" All of these expression made my day! 

We kept on going through the trails and finial came out of the woods and out to the dirt road that comes upon Ski Tow. Upon our arrival I happen to look at the GPS on my watch to see that we had trekked a total of 3.89 miles in our Fit Club journey!!! Which made all the kids feel elated. 

It was a great first day at Mt. Ascutney and I can't wait till we're up there again. I love being out in the woods and I love being out in the woods with such a great group of kids!!!

* Remember when we are in the woods its really important for kids to have water bottles to take with them.

*Also important to remember to do a tick check! So far I haven't heard of anyone having them, but I know I've picked several off my dogs at home.

*Good foot wear for hiking/running

For next weeks Fit Kids Club we are going to be at ABS on Monday. With picked up time at 5pm and at the mountain on Wednesday with pick up time at 5pm at the same spot. The base lodge parking lot. We still need parent/guardian/adult volunteers to help out so if you happen to have time please feel free to come! 

Have a great weekend! ~ Annalise

ABS Fit Kids Club 

Day 3

April 25th 2016

For most of today the weather had been nice and sunny. Perhaps a bit breeze, but over all sunny. Until the end of the school when the clouds began to roll in and the weather began to get a bit chill. 

This however didn't dampen the spirits of the FKC members. 

We started the afternoon session outside instead of meeting in the library. Allowing for each member of the club to have a snack and some time to hang with their friends, play around on the soccer field or just chat with each other. Then we came together for our typical warm up session. 

More and more of the members are coming up with great exercises to do and making up their own ones as well. We have one that is the "lawn mower" which is basically lying on the grass like you are doing a face forward snow angel. This one everyone seems to love. As well as doing the "worm" which is the dance move the worm. Which only a small amount of them can actual do correctly. The rest of us just are rolling on the ground. Regardless of the level of perfection on this move everyone laughs and smiles as they attempt to do some form of the worm. 

There are of course some exercise moves that are brought up each time that we just can't as a group do all together. Such as cartwheels, some difficult yoga moves and head stands. I love the effort in trying. I just envision many bumps and bruises if we all attempted to do cartwheels in a circle. 

Again after our warm up circle everyone wanted to resume our game of Duck, Duck, Goose. Let me say I haven't had so much fun playing Duck, Duck, Goose in a long time!! Everyone tries so hard to get away from their tagger or the tagger trying to get the one they've attempting to catch. Everyone cheers, laughs and are such good sports if they happen to get into the middle of the circle. I even made it into the circle when I was tagged by a speedy 1st grader. hahaha. 

After our epic game of Duck, Duck, Goose we did a hill workout. Using what we have in our backyard the members broke out into their buddy groups and did a relay of them going up the hill that  boarders the soccer field. They all figured out different ways to get up the steep parts of the hill and how to get down the hill without getting to many bumps and bruises. Of course some of this knowledge came after a couple of tumbles are two. All in all everyone got a workout (including myself) with trying to get up to the top of the hill as quickly as possible. 

Once our hill work was completed it was time to get the group to take a break and refresh themselves with some H20. So they could be ready for the next activity. Which was to do two laps around the school on the walking path. Everyone could do the path at their own pace and after they where done they had the chance to do some free play. Some members of the club went super fast and where done in record time. While others choose to take their time and chat with other members as they went around the path. 

After that the members spilt up in many different ways. We had many that decided to play in the gaga pit. Others did some more walking while chatting and others went off to help Mrs. Aldrich in gardening. 

Everyone seemed to have a great time this afternoon. I was especially pleased to find that we all stayed dry even with all of the dark storm clouds looming above us. 

Now reminder that on Wednesday we will be at Mt. Ascutney for the afternoon session. Pick up is in the base lodge parking lot. We will be station out of the bottom Rope Tow hut. Time of pick up is still 5. If you happen to be there a bit earlier and we're not at the base lodge parking lot then feel free to come up to the rope tow hut to wait for us there. If you child/children happen to be walking home after FKC and they typical are picked up please, please let myself, Andrea Powell, April Sykes or Jenifer Aldrich know before hand. No one intends on returning to ABS at the end of the session unless special arrangements have been made before hand. Which again can be done by either contacting myself, Andrea Powell, April Sykes or Jenifer Aldrich. 

Also just a side note unless you have discussed it with Ann Ackley (FLC) and contact one of us we can not transfer FKC members over to FLC. Especially on sessions when we are at the mountain. I thank you all in advance for your understanding. 

Well I hope all the kiddos in the Fit Kids Club have been enjoying their time in the club and that they go home tired!!! Looking forward to our session on Wednesday and hoping that we truly don't get the snow that is being called for tomorrow!!! 

Thanks for reading the Fit Kids Club Blog!!! 

contact information: 

annalise.ennis@wsesu.net - Annalise Ennis

apowell@wsesu.net - Andrea Powell

asykes@wsesu.net - April Sykes

jaldrich@wsesu.net - Jenifer Aldrich

You can also contact the school at 802-484-3344 

Also just in case of an emergency you can always call my cellphone at 802-291-2370, you can also text it as well. Just please make sure to include information on who you are. 

Gaga is a sport that resembles dodgeball. Except that they do it in a circle formation and have less rules than in dodgeball. There is only one ball and everyone attempts to get someone out by whacking the ball in their direction and hoping that it will hit them in the leg (knee down) to get them out. The last person remaining in the gaga pit is the winner. 

Also please check out the West Windsor 5 and Dime Race website. Many of the FKC will get a chance to be on these trails before this event so they will be able to be familiar with the trails before this event takes place. 
http://ascutneyoutdoors.org/new-events/ww5dime

ABS Fit Kids Club 

Day 2

April 20th 2016

Hiking in the woods:

My apologies on being delayed with this entry. Life popped up and I haven't gotten a chance to compose a entry for this pasted Wednesday session. 

For me Wednesday was a great day for the Fit Kids Club. With a great group of adult volunteers, that also happen to be some staff members of ABS. (Big shout out to Jenifer Aldrich, Sarah Day and Mary Kay Cronin) We left the campus of ABS and went off onto the VAST trails that surrounds our town. 

However before we left we did the same kind of warm up we did on Monday. Music blasting everyone got a chance to lead us in an exercise of their choice to get our heart rate pumping. Then unacceptable all the members of the club wanted to play a couple rounds of Duck, Duck, Goose. Which I thought was a surprise request, but figured why not. So we did a great couple rounds and everyone had fun rooting on each member of the club that was either attempting to run away, or for the one attempting to catch the goose. 

The kids wanted to keep on playing, but I wanted to make sure we got a chance to get out on the trail. Breaking back up into their buddy groups I gave them the instructions to remain with your buddy group. Meaning that each member of the buddy group had to be in eye sight of their buddy group members. If one person got a head, or behind their buddy group members. It was the responsibility of the group and the individual to either wait for their group to catch up. 

This system worked fairly well on Wednesday. With one group doing especially well with keeping together. A couple other groups had to work on keeping with in eye sight of their buddy group members.

We also had to stress the importance to all the members about waiting for each other especially during the times when the trail changes, converts into a new trail, or comes to other trails converging onto the trail we are using. How its important to make sure you know the right set of instructions and don't end up taking the wrong way. I especially couvade to them how this was a safety rule 101, and if I happen to find members unable to follow these directions then we might have to ask them to not participate during the sessions we are at the mountain. To them it might seem harsh, but the last thing Anyone wants is for someone to be lost on the mountain. 

In our whole over all journey the members of the club walked 1.5 miles. Which times it by 31 of us walking that day. Bought us a total of 46.5 miles towards our goal of virtual walking towards Disneyland in CA!!! *Please remember to track any miles your child/children have walked during after school and weekends. Those miles can count towards our virtual walk.* 

When we got back the members had time to do free play and as the session came to a close we did our closing circle. Many people have great nominations and I was so happy with how great everyone was feeling afterwards.

Well I'm looking forward to tomorrows Fit Kids Club! Tomorrow we are still at ABS and due to the outlook for the weather if its raining you will most likely find us either in the gym or the library. Depending on the location of the FLC. On Wednesday we still intend on heading to the mountain for the afternoon. Reminder that on Wednesday we except all the Fit Kids Club to be picked up at base lodge parking lot. (lower) We will be station out of the lower rope tow hut. So if you come early and no one is waiting in the parking lot that is where we will be converging before we head down towards the parking lot area. *Also I would greatly appreciate a heads up from the families who's children live on the mountain that might be walking home that day. Please let either myself or Andrea Powell know that they have the okay to walk home!!* You can email me at annalise.ennis@wsesu.net 

Hope everyone is excited for the next session as I am. See you tomorrow!!! 

ps.. Still looking for adult volunteers for up and coming sessions!!! 

ABS Fit Kids Club

Day 1

April 18th

Today in the club we did some general housekeeping. Meaning we went over the rules!

Rules of the Club are as follows:

1. Safety First, Look, Listen & Follow 

2. Be Respectful, respectful to yourself, to teachers, to volunteers, to each other and to our Natural Communities!

3. Have Fun

4. Wear Comfortable Clothing

5. Be respectful of nature, do not approach wildlife, or even dogs on the trails unless given the go a head from an adult. 

6. Responsibility, be responsible for bring your water bottle, wearing sneakers, bringing a snack and wearing the correct clothing. 

7. Listen- make sure to listen to the coaches, helpers and each other

8. No Yelling!! Try and talk to each other with kindness and cheer each other on!!

9. Do your best! 

10. Role Models- Try to help club members by putting your best foot forward and leading by setting a good example. 

(The rules written in green are rules that where decided on by each of the buddy groups)

What's a buddy group? The first thing I asked the members of the club to do was get themselves into pairs. Once in pairs I had the younger members select a pair of buddies from the older group. This brought together a buddy group. The buddy group is just a quick way to get a head count of all the members when we are out on the trails. Its also a great way to develop leaderships skills amongst all of the members, but especially the older Fit Club kids. 

With in their buddy groups they established rules they felt should be added. Discussed names of what they might wish to have their buddy group called. (This appears to be a work in progress) 

Once all of the members had finished their snack. We went outside to enjoy the beautiful day! All of us enjoyed the beautiful weather that we where lucky enough to have at the start of this Fit Kids Club. Mid-60's, sun shining and the color green springing up around us was perfect. 

Outside we did a collective warm up where each of the members if they wanted had the chance to lead the group in a exercise of their choice. It meant we did everything from yoga stretches to crawling on the ground like a worm. The whole point was to get their bodies energized and ready to go. 

After warm up they did an activity that promoted different forms of movement. What they had to do was go from one station to the next in a way that was instructed by the group before them. Before they left that station though their group had to leave instructions for the group behind them. Making it so one group could be doing Leap Frog to one station while the next was doing Cartwheels or Sprints.

Once the activity was done the members did have some time to do some free play amongst themselves. We had some members building forts, rolling down hills, running back up them, playing in the gaga pit or swinging on the swings. 

At the end of the afternoon session we did a closing circle where we did cheers celebrating members nominated by either the coaches or other members of the club for different things each of these individuals did to be helpful to either the group at large, or to individual members. This is a activity that will be done at the closing of each Fit Kids Club session. Having more then just the coaches nominating members gives everyone a chance to be recognized for the help and support they gave to different club members. 

Well it was for Andrea and I it was a great first Fit Kids Club meeting! I look forward to our next meeting on Wednesday. Which will be the day when we start to do more movement and work on cross country running. So please remember to make sure your Fit Kids Club kiddo has a water bottle, sneakers, comfortable clothing to run in and a snack!

* As a side note we are going to start doing a thing called Walk A Cross America. The destination we are heading towards is Disneyland in Anaheim CA. Which is a total of 2,877 miles from here to there. Its going to be a virtual walk where we take the miles we have collected in the Fit Kids Club to move us closer to our destination. 

These miles can be collected outside of the Fit Kids Club sessions and it is not sole reversed for Fit Kids members only. We have asked any fellow ABS student or staff to collect their miles they walk on their own to add to the distance we go to get us to our Disneyland destination. 

My hope is that we start this earlier next year so we can choose places that are outside of our country to learn about different cultures along the way. 

 

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, 

It's Fits Kids Club 

Tomorrow

It's only a sleep away!!!

Myself and Andrea are extremely excited about our first ABS Fits Kids Club tomorrow! The weather is looking like it will be beautiful! The high is set to be near the mid 60's and we can't wait to get this program underway. 

This week we will keep our location at Albert Bridge School and when you come for picked up you'll find us outside on the bleachers on the soccer field. 

Please make sure to send you're Fit Kid Club member to school with a water bottle, a snack to eat before the club gets started and proper footwear. 

Also please remember if you haven't yet sent in release forms to send them in tomorrow!! 

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!!! 

Also we still need parents/guardians/community members to sign up as helpers- check out the web sign up on :
ABS Fit Kids Club Parent Sign Up

Mount Ascutney

ABS Fit Kids Club Blog Spot

Welcome to the Albert Bridge School Fit Kids Club Blog Spot!!! The intention of this blog spot is to give daily and weekly updates on our adventures in the club. This way you, as a parent of a fellow Fit Kid Club Member can share in the adventure yourself! I will also use this blog to let you know of any location changes or give additional updates regarding the club. I also hope to put up pictures of our adventures (with parental permission of course) and maybe even allow some of our club members to write something on here from time to time sharing their own personal Fit Kids Club stories.

Right now we have on an average Monday and Wednesday around 20-36 kids signed up. Which has myself and my fellow partner in crime Andrea Powell extremely excited about! Both Andrea and I work at ABS full time and in the years past have been the coaches for Girls On The Run. A program that we loved being a part of, but felt that our school truly need a more co-educational after school sports program that would allow younger students to participate in as well. 

Which lead us to forming the ABS Fit Kids Club! Our Fit Kids Club has been formed with the bases of getting our students outside into the natural environment that surrounds our school. With so many recreational activities that take place in our own backyard. It seemed only fitting that we should bring something to the students that gives them the ability to be exposed to things like trail running, mountain biking, hiking and golf. This will also allow for Fit Kids members to connect with community members that are highly experienced in their sport. Some going as far as even representing the United States!

All of these factors have us super excited about getting Fit Kids started! We can't wait to be outside and enjoying the beautiful surroundings we live in!