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!