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Elk Rapids Teacher Starts ‘Morning Movement’: A Daily Practice To Get Students Moving

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“I’ve had students come up to me and say I need this Mr. Knight, thank you, I’m glad that we have this.”

 
It’s not a cool field trip– or a tasty treat that Kip Knight’s third graders are thanking him for,
It’s for the starting a morning tradition that’s now instilled as a healthy, daily practice.
 
‘Morning Movement’ came about the desire to really help our kids thrive, and to be proactive and give them a great start their day. They are able to either jog or walk or ski, or bike at a level they could still have a conversation.”
 
Knight has been with the elk rapids schools for 26 years.
 
Knight says, “Education it’s about the relationship we build with our students.”
 
Passionate about health, and radiating a positive experience through ‘Morning Movement,’– starting it back in 2013.
“I wanted students to have the best day they could every day…And eliminate all the potential things that normally could happen with the start of the day. Whether it’s a frustration with a classmate or they’re just not engaged with the learning.”
With the ultimate goal of getting the body moving for 20-30 minutes each day,
And in that short amount of time, the students are waking up their body and getting their cardiovascular system activated.
 
“The learning aspect of being outside, whether it’s on the track working on fractions, or talking about some scientific concepts when we’re outside on the skis, or looking at flowers or things that relate to some of our science curriculum.”
 
And even though ‘morning movement’ is only 30 minutes a day,
It’s making drastic changes in the way students are learning and in their behaviors in and out of the classroom.
 
Proud that his students have made such a difference, “That really does boost both their ability to focus, improves their mood, makes school fun. And I think their peer relationships towards each other is tremendous just because it’s a shared experience,” says Knight.
 
The Elk Rapids community has showed lots of support for Knight’s ‘Morning Movement.’
 
“The TBA Credit Union, they provided us a grant to supply many of these materials, McLains Cycle and Fitness donated 30 bikes to our school, and we’ve had the Vasa SkinClub step up years ago and help us acquisition the skis and equipment. It has brought a lot of positive feedback from the families as well,” says Knight.
 
But the true goal is to set an example.
 
“If we can plant the seed early and hopefully this radiate out beyond elk rapids, that other students at other schools can say, there’s a really simple way, that is pretty inexpensive to do, that is our ultimate goal.”
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