Springs Ranch Elementary P.E.

The Springs Ranch Wellness Team was hard at work this year, reviving past wellness programs such as Elementary Basketball, District Track Meet, School Social Functions, and Skate City Nights! This year, we brought back popular programs to increase student opportunities for physical activity and team camaraderie. These included Landsharks Running Club (K-5th), Elementary Basketball (3rd-5th), District Track Meet (4th/5th), and Skate City Nights (K-5th). Students who signed up and attended these programs were highly engaged and had a terrific, positive experience!

Several students mentioned how much they enjoyed participating in programs like this, and were left wanting more. In the words of one basketball player, "I am so sad that basketball season is over, but I can't wait to sign up next year!" This was a common sentiment among students who participated in these programs!

Also, the Wellness team helped to fund and install a new "Buddy Bench" near the SRES playground. This Buddy Bench also memorializes a beloved staff member who sadly passed away in 2020. She would have loved to see students connecting and supporting one another, as that was one of her greatest strengths and passions as a Speech/Language Pathologist here.

The SRES Wellness Team is looking forward to building more momentum in the upcoming school years, with the goal of impacting even more students in the areas of physical, social, emotional, and mental wellness. We will even be teaming with the nutrition services staff here to increase our messaging for healthy, nutritional food choices. In all, it has been a great year to boost everyone's health in a large variety of ways, and we can't wait to keep meeting the health needs of everyone in our school population! Let's GOOOOOOOO!!!!

For The First Time In Forever....

I got to teach whole classes in person yesterday! I felt like a real live teacher again, having real live students in the gym! Most of the time, our plan will include holding PE classes outside. But, you know, Colorado has this strange phenomenon called "weather" :-) So we had classes in the gym. It was FUN!!!

Anyway, I was feeling oddly nervous yesterday! I told the kids it was kind of strange to feel nervous doing something that I've been doing for the last two decades. Maybe it was because it had been so long, or maybe it was trying to make a lesson go smoothly amidst all the new health protocols, rules, and procedures.

The good news is it was an excited kind of nervous, like when you know you're doing something that is important to you, and you want it to go well. It wasn't a scared or anxious nervousness. I also shared with them that after we exercised and played a couple games, the nervousness seemed to get better! Hooray for using our bodies to help our brains! Endorphins are a powerful thing!

Gosh, it sure was wonderful to have the students back in the school, though. I can't wait for next week, when the 3rd-5th graders also return. And for those who are opting to continue E-Learning for now, keep logging on and stay engaged. I look forward to seeing your smiling eyes again when you return!

Gratefully,
Mr. Ingram