Recess does a body good – that’s their message

5th graders Anne Makuch, Chloë Chabeau and Colleen Crepeau have asked the Mansfield Board of Education to consider bringing recess to their middle school. Photo © by Brenda Sullivan.-----

The transition from elementary school to middle school can be a bumpy one for many reasons.  Three fifth-grade students at Mansfield Middle School have come up with a new one.  They miss recess.

They miss it so much, the three girls - Anne Makuch, Chloë Chibeau and Colleen Crepeau - recently made a presentation to the Board of Education and asked them to consider creating a recess period for 5^th graders five days a week.

While it’s nice to hang out with classmates during recess, the main reason the girls think it’s important is the physical activity.

One of Chloë’s favorite memories of recess when she was a student at Southeast Elementary School was when one of the teachers would organize a game of Sharks & Minnows, she said.

It does a body - and brain - good

“All of us really want recess,” Colleen said.

“Recess helps grades,” she added.

This is something the girls learned when they went online and did some research on the benefits of recess.

A recent New York Times story, “The 3Rs? A fourth is crucial, too: Recess,” reports on studies that indicate daily physical activity outdoors - like  recess - boosts better classroom behavior and academic achievement, as well as social development.

The story quotes a Harvard study published in January in The Journal of School Health which concludes that, “the more physical fitness tests children passed, the better they did on academic tests. The study of 1,800 middle school students suggests that children can benefit academically from physical activity during gym class and recess.”

The girls presented this and other research they uncovered to the school board, including a story, “Recess benefits health and learning,” in  a publication aimed at educators and parents, that states: “Schools that fail to provide at least one recess period a day for their students are limiting opportunities for success. In fact, if you visited most high performing schools and/or exemplary schools, you would find that the majority of them have recess or a break in their schedules.”

The girls also discovered a state educational requirement that stipulates students must be offered 20 minutes of exercise everyday. “It can be physical education or recess,” Anne said.

Currently, 5^th graders have three 45-minute physical education classes a week.

Bringing their idea to the Board of Education was “kind of scary,” Anne said.

“But they were really nice,” Colleen added.

And while they’re willing to let the Board of Education mull over the idea, they’re pretty determined to bring board members around to their way of thinking.

“If they say ‘No,’ we will just have to go back,” Anne said.

And if they are successful? “If we do get this for the 5^th grade, then why don’t they do it for the whole school?” Anne said.

Colleen even has her father on board with the idea. “My dad emailed Obama, but he never emailed back,” she said.

Mansfield Middle School Principal Jeff Cryan. Photo © by Brenda Sullivan.

Need to brainstorm

Principal Jeff Cryan said that he, and the school board, are taking the girls’ request seriously, but it may take some brainstorming on the part of the 5^th grade teachers’ team to come up with a solution.

The problem is, there are only so many hours in the day and a lot of educational requirements to be fulfilled within that timeframe.

Cryan noted that Mansfield Middle School actually exceeds the physical activity requirement “on average” because, unlike most schools that offer 30-minute PE classes, the classes are 45 minutes long at Mansfield Middle.

He noted that the statute concerning providing students with a recess period “assumes that all 5^th grades are in elementary schools.”

He added that there also are about 50 students who take part in an after-school gymnastics program.

One way to approach the students’ request, he said, might be to include a recess option during what’s called the X-block.  This is a period when students can choose different electives such as music, art, tech ed and consumer sciences.

“In order to replicate elementary school recess, the time has to come from someplace,” Cryan said.

“They don’t want to give up access to any of their related arts [during X-period], so they understand that it’s different in middle school,” Cryan said.

“Maybe the students who don’t have physical education on certain days can sign up for recess,” he said.

If the Middle School did offer recess as an X-block elective, it would require a teacher to supervise the students while they are outdoors so, again, this is something that would need to be discussed with the 5^th grade team.

Cryan added that he was pleased to see these students take the initiative to bring their idea to the board of education - that alone, is a great learning experience, he said.

Posted March 29, 2009