Coach Larry Calhoun, star of the Move to Learn exercise break videos, will visit the Monticello Elementary School campus Thursday, Feb. 22, to introduce students, teachers and administrators to the Move to Learn Initiative.

A team from The Bower Foundation and the Mississippi Department of Education’s Office of Healthy Schools will accompany Calhoun to present a live demonstration of the exercise videos. The presentation will be at 9 a.m. for grades K-2, and at 10 a.m. for grades 3-5, at MES, 957 McPherson Drive.

“Improving nutrition and physical activity levels for Mississippi school children is a priority; healthy children are more likely to be academically successful,” said Bower Foundation CEO Anne Travis. The foundation is partnering with MDE OHS statewide for the program.

“Brief physical activity and increased fitness improve learning, and assist teachers with classroom management,” said Scott Clements, MDE OHS director.

The Move to Learn videos feature Calhoun leading students in simple movement exercises that can be done in a small space. Teachers have noticed that incorporating the fitness breaks in the classroom has increased their students’ ability to focus on schoolwork. The breaks help teachers create positive learning environments and promote effective classroom management.

The brief, organized, and free classroom movement breaks can help teachers manage their students’ energy levels so that after a fitness break children’s brains are more focused and ready to learn or take a test. These breaks were developed by Mississippians for Mississippi children. Research shows us that bodily exercise also exercises the brain.

Studies have shown that physical activity increases a child’s ability to learn, and as fitness improves, test scores improve.  More information about The Bower Foundation’s Move to Learn programs may be foundat www.movetolearnms.org.