ShareThisMatt Diskin's students don't start their day sitting quietly at their desks. Shortly after walking into Room 22 at Grand Oaks Elementary School in Shasta Lake, Calif., they're on the move.
He lines them up at the front door according to height and then marches them outside. First stop is the flagpole, where they raise the flag in front of the school and recite the "Pledge of Allegiance."
Then they were off for "Walkabout Wednesday," which includes a short hike across the campus. Their walkabout included a stop to ponder budding trees and sprouting irises, a quick run down the long-jump track and then a jog around the Indian Trail.
While Diskin teaches special education, he says he also is a student of the brain. He said he has learned that exercise prepares the brain for learning. He ticks off a list of chemicals such as serotonin, epinephrine and endorphins that he says the brain produces during exercise that help kids learn better.
"There is a correlation between physical activity and learning," Diskin said.
As evidence, he points out Grand Oaks students' most recent scores on statewide testing, which last year reached 810, exceeding the state target and jumping 45 points over the previous year.
Grand Oaks' emphasis on physical education has earned it a fifth-straight award this year from the California Governor's Council on Physical Fitness & Sports.
Grand Oaks kids had 15,000 active days from September to the end of January, said Kenny Rogers, executive director of the fitness council. An active day is one student exercising at least 30 minutes in one day, he said.
Grand Oaks Principal Jason Rubin said much of the activity at his school takes place during recess, lunch and after school.
The school has numerous programs that encourage exercise, he said, ticking off intramural Fridays, Walkabout Wednesdays, the Indian Trail and tai chi classes.
"We're not relying on Little League and stuff like that. We're making stuff happen," Rubin said.
In statewide physical fitness tests released this month, Grand Oaks students scored more than twice as high as the Shasta County average, for the percentage of students who met the criteria on six of six fitness tests.
During the 2009-10 school year, 60 percent of Grand Oaks students passed all six of the tests. The average for Shasta County was 27 percent, according to California Department of Education figures.
Diskin said he also incorporates academics and nutrition lessons into exercise. When he breaks out his barbecue and slaps some potato and pineapple slices on his "Good For You, Grill," he gets the kids using math by figuring out the cost per calorie of the food they eat, compared to the cost of buying fast food.
He also uses exercise in the classroom, having students stretch before tests. He will even get them riding an exercise bicycle he keeps in class.
"We're quick to give them Ritalin when maybe all they need is a jump rope," Diskin said.
(Damon Arthur is a reporter for the Redding Record Searchlight in California
