Students at Collings Lakes Elementary School in Buena Vista Township are walking to Walt Disney World.

Students at William H. Ross III Intermediate School in Margate earn plastic feet for every 20 minutes they jog around the gym.
Making sure children get enough exercise has become a mandate for parents, schools and lawmakers amid reports of increases in childhood obesity. School districts are now required by law to have wellness and nutrition policies.

But, what might be surprising is just how easy it is to motivate children to move. All it has taken is a few motivated teachers, plus a few incentives, and the students are, well, off and running. Or, at least walking.

At the Collings Lakes school, Mileage Club members walk around an outdoor course during recess, tallying their laps. The goal is 1,035 miles, the distance from the school to Disney World.

“Two students have done more than 25 miles since we started,” physical education teacher Chris Aretz said. “Several are close to 18.”
The top three walkers will get to walk to the nearby Wawa for lunch with principal Dan Benedetto, who has also agreed to sit on the school roof if the students reach Disney World. They’ve already walked more than 950 miles.

“I hope at least the weather warms up before they hit the goal,” said Benedetto, who had thought he’d be safe until spring.
At the Ross School in Margate, physical-education teacher Joe Schiff was running in the gym alone during his lunch hour last fall when students Maggie Drew and Jennifer Wolfson asked if they could join him.
“I just saw him doing it, and it looked like fun,” Drew said.

Schiff thought other students might also enjoy it, and began offering a 20-minute jog each day overlapping the school lunch periods. The school also joined AtlantiCare’s Healthy Schools, Healthy Children program.

AtlantiCare is running a contest for the 33 Atlantic County schools participating in the program. The goals are to improve nutrition and self esteem and increase exercise and nutrition education.
AtlantiCare Child Health and Wellness Coordinator Samantha Kiley Ficcaglia said they encourage the schools to be inventive.
“We want the schools to take ownership,” she said. “And we want them to get parents and their communities involved as well.”
Schiff bought some tiny plastic feet to give out to students who complete the timed walk/jog each day, then got some bigger feet for those who complete 10 sessions.

The kids kept coming, and Schiff wanted to keep them motivated, so he created a Big Foot Honor Roll, a huge wooden foot, posted on the gym wall, with a name tag for each student who completes 200 minutes. The local Police Benevolent Society is paying for the name tags, and some officers occasionally come to run. So do some teachers, a few parents and school principal Shelly Meyers.
“Students will ask if I’m running and how many feet I have,” Meyers said.

Schiff said while he is happy the students are exercising, the daily jog is also about motivation and setting and achieving goals.
“Kids will say they can’t do it, but if they keep coming they can,” he said.

Some start walking the loop until Schiff starts the music. As “Life is a Highway” blared from a boom box, the kids started jogging and the gym took on the atmosphere of a roller rink. Schiff ran in the opposite direction, making sure the kids do the complete outer lap. Some sang along with the music and added some dance moves. Some boys leaped up and touched the basketball net as they passed — at least for the first few laps.

By the last few minutes, many are flushed, and the last 20 seconds on the time clock are loudly counted down by the group, which usually averages 40 or 50 students a day.

“It lets the students burn off energy, and it’s a confidence builder that they can do it,” Meyers said.
Robert Gieseo took time off from work to run with his son, Raymond,a fifth-grader.
“I was a runner, and now I want to get back into shape,” he said. “It’s fun.”

Drew said she tries to jog every day unless she has a test to study for during lunch. She hasn’t gotten tired of it, and maybe even likes it more now that she’s better at it.

“It’s still fun,” she said. “And it just feels good.”

Schiff said he’s trying to lead by example and keep the daily runs fun for the students.
“I just want to get them past saying ‘I can’t,’” he said. “Once they realize they can, they bring other kids in.”

BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP — More than two-thirds of the special-education students who took the eighth-grade math test at Buena Regional High School were male.

“What does this tell you?��� Harvey Kesselman asked teachers sitting in the high school library. “What are the future implications for graduation?���

Teachers discussed why so many special-education students are boys, but Kesselman then used the data to make another point.

“If we didn't know this was happening,��� he said, “how would we even know to address it? We wouldn't even know to ask these questions.���

The 2006 state school report cards were released this week on the state Department of Education Web site. While much of the focus is on test scores, the database offers a wealth of information about trends in schools. For the first time, in 2006 the state tested fifth-, sixth- and seventh-graders, giving schools a new batch of data on how their students perform starting in grade three.

But having a lot of information is just the beginning. Teachers also today have to know how to use the data to improve and not just get bogged down in numbers.

“Five years ago we would not be doing this, “ said Kesselman, CEO of the Southern Regional Institute at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, which offers training to school districts throughout southern New Jersey. “We didn't have the data, or the interest. Teachers would know their school was not doing as well as others, but they really did not know why, or how to fix it. Now they can analyze the data and use it to improve.���

For Buena Regional's teachers, Kesselman compared different parts of the state tests with the state average, and with the average of similar districts. Buena is classified by the state as an “A��� district — a socioeconomic category they share with neighboring Vineland, Hammonton and Millville, and also Camden and Newark. The district is more rural, but it has a high level of poverty and unemployment, all of which play a role in student performance.

Harvey's data on the eighth-grade and high school tests shows Buena doesn't always make the state averages, but usually scores far above the other “A��� districts. Teachers wondered how to get that information to the public.

Kesselman reviewed the overall test results, then got down to the details. Eighth-graders are about even with the state model in reading, but drop a bit below in writing. Students are doing fine on geometry and measurement and problem solving, but dropped off on data analysis.

Kesselman also used the data to challenge some assumptions, and said he loves when he can surprise a group of teachers. In Buena, he showed that while minority student scores still lag behind white students, Buena's minority students often far outperform those in other poor districts and sometimes even exceed the state average.

“You need to promote your successes, too,��� Kesselman said. “You have to look at the entire picture.���

It's not always easy. Ted Peters, one of the younger teachers, said he was taught to use the state report card data in college. But older teachers have not had that experience.

Assistant Superintendent Carmella Vasta said they held the workshop to make all teachers more aware of what information is available and how Buena stacks up against the rest of the state. She said in particular teachers who teach subjects not tested, such as social studies, should still be more involved in the process.

Teacher Greg Smith, president of the teacher's association, said the data can help them target the areas where students are weak.

“There is so much information it can be overkill,��� he said. “But it can help direct us.���

Kesselman warned not to let the test data alone control education.

“You can use the data to look at trends,��� he said. “But ultimately this is about learning and helping individual students succeed.���