Schools

With Dairy Grant, Rogers Nurse Crusades For Student Fitness

Nurse Kathy Beezley is organizing programs for Rogers Middle School students, including Wii fitness sessions and a quick breakfast.

Starting next Thursday, Rogers Middle School students will gather once a week after school for an hour of dancing, games and exercise using several Nintendo Wiis purchased with a grant from the St. Louis Dairy Council.

The $3,000 grant was awarded to school nurse Kathy Beezley, who applied in December to the Fuel Up to Play 60 program, an anti-childhood obesity partnership between the National Dairy Council and the NFL to encourage children to eat healthy and exercise 60 minutes every day.

“Last year, I was looking for a way to exercise myself, and (Rogers Middle School Principal Jeff) Remelius brought this in,” Beezley said, who began planning for the grant during the 2009-2010 school year. “I loved it. If you are going to reach kids, video games are a great way. I thought, why the heck not?”

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After being awarded the grant on Jan. 26, Beezley went to Best Buy in Fenton to buy three Nintendo Wii consoles, two Wii Fit Plus exercise boards, several sets of controllers and games including Just Dance 2, Wii Fit, Wii Resort, Wii Sports and The Biggest Loser Challenge. Beezley said that after hearing about her project Best Buy gave her a 40-percent discount.

A fourth Wii was donated by John Brazeal, director of business affairs for the Affton School District. The Affton Mothers' Club is donating $500 to the project, which will be used to buy a fifth console.

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So far, 35 students are planning to participate in next week’s first regular Wii exercise session on Thursday, but Beezley said she expects even more. The games will be played in the school auditorium on televisions that were removed from classrooms where Smart Boards were installed. One game will be projected onto the large screen behind the main stage.

“They just love it,” Beezley said. “The boys even got out there for Just Dance.”

Depending on participation in over the coming weeks, Beezley hopes to scale the Wii sessions to three days a week.

Meanwhile, Beezley said teachers at Rogers are excited to use the Biggest Loser Challenge game. Some Rogers faculty participate in a weight watchers group, paying $1 every week they gain weight, which goes into a fund to pay for more Wii games and equipment.

The Fuel Up to Play 60 grant requires applicants to plan several “plays”—to be funded by the grant—which promote exercise and good nutrition among children. Schools and students can share their success and compete with other teams at FuelUpToPlay60.com.

The first play Beezley organized was a “grab-and-go breakfast.” With classes at Rogers starting at 7 a.m., Beezley said she noticed that many students were coming to school without having eaten and were complaining late in the morning about stomach pains.

Now students can get a quick snack of milk and granola bars between second and third periods. Beezley keeps track of how many students are participating on a white board in her office. The program started with 28 students on Feb. 1. Now the breakfast has grown to 147 students.

“I have a third of my student population eating breakfast here now,” Beezley said. “It’s amazing.”

The second play on Beezley’s application was the Wii exercise sessions. With the third play Beezley plans to bring a nutritionist to talk to the eight-grade class and teach them how to make healthy smoothies for after-school snacks.

The fourth play is a taste test of unusual fruits and dishes to get students used to eating a wider variety of foods.

“Some kids are so low income. If you have a low budget, you might buy peanut butter instead of fruits and vegetables,” Beezley said.

For the fifth play, Beezley plans to set up a booth to take photos of students with milk mustaches on March 22 and 23. Students can also come up with health-related slogans, and the best slogans win prizes.

Beezley plans to bring St. Louis Dairy Council representative Rebecca Collier to talk to Rogers students at the end of April. Beezley hopes that a player on the St. Louis Rams will also attend that assembly.

“I’m on a mission,” Beezley said.


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