Whether it’s busting a move to Cotton Eye Joe or running laps around the school, Fayetteville-Manlius elementary students are making extra efforts this month to improve their health and fitness habits.
In honor of National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, which is observed during the month of May, and Project All Children Exercising Simultaneously (ACES), a worldwide event that for the past 30 years has been held on the first Wednesday in May, F-M students in kindergarten through fourth grade are engaging in various physical activities, including school-wide simultaneous exercise sessions that are designed to motivate children and stimulate their brains.
On May 1, all Enders Road Elementary School students observed Project ACES – also dubbed “the world’s largest exercise class” – by participating in a 20-minute walk around the school. At Fayetteville Elementary School, students learn about Project ACES during their physical education classes and observed this year’s event during the school-wide morning walk, which students and staff members participate in every day before starting classroom work.
Mott Road Elementary School held its own school-wide exercise event on May 8, which families were invited to attend. Students and guests could run, jog, walk or dance along the school’s walking path, which loops its way around the field located behind the school, while a playlist of dance tunes pulsed through a speaker.
Project ACES was first introduced nationally in 1989 by New Jersey physical educator Len Saunders, according to the organization’s website. Its mission includes combating the obesity epidemic that’s facing the world’s youth.
In addition to celebrating National Physical Fitness and Sports Month and Project ACES, F-M’s elementary schools observe other special events such as the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for Heart, which teaches the importance of caring for yourself and others.
The following photos were captured during Mott Road Elementary School’s Project All Children Exercising Simultaneously event on May 8.
