Off the screen and into motion
Jump Rope for Heart Day gets student body active in Naujaat
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
NAUJAAT
Students at Tuugaalik High School had a fun-filled day that provided a break from electronic screen time, and had them physically active while also raising a few bucks for a great cause in Naujaat earlier this month.
Cassandra Kripanik and Rolanda Amautinuar, right, get some serious airtime going while taking part in Jump Rope for Heart Day at Tuugaalik High School in Naujaat earlier this month. - photo courtesy of Julia MacPherson |
The entire student body took part in the Jump Rope for Heart activities, which included the popular Hoops for Heart component.
The day's activities raised $200 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Teacher Pat McClure organized the one-day event and said everything went quite well throughout the day's activities comprised of three skipping stations, three basketball challenge stations and a healthy-eating station.
He said the day ended with a giant tug-of-war between teachers and students, which was a big hit with the youths.
"The kids had fun and they were pretty active throughout the day," said McClure.
"We raised the $200 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation through bake sales we held in the morning and afternoon.
"We sent that off to the foundation, and we've come up with some pretty good ideas for new events to hold next year.
"We also held a student raffle for an iPad, a Bluetooth speaker and a bunch of little prizes sent to us from the Heart and Stroke Foundation."
McClure said it was impressive to see some of the students catch on to double-dutch skipping during the day.
He said the focus of the event is to get the students off their electronic devices and up and active for a day to have some fun, while also providing them with a better understanding of the benefits of living a healthier lifestyle..
"We try to make them understand that it's good to get away from the screen time, get their heart rates going and try to live a healthier overall lifestyle.
"We try to offset that with the healthy-eating station in an attempt to also bring in the benefits of a well-rounded diet to the message we're trying to send.
"It can be a battle to try and limit the screen time of the kids these days.
"We don't have the cell phones to contend with yet in Naujaat, but you see them with the iPads and the games more and more, so we want to do what we can to limit that and increase their activity."
