NEISD coach motivates kids to stay healthy at home
Even in times of uncertainty, kids from Colonial Hills Elementary School are staying active and it’s something that P.E. and Health Teacher Terri Pitts is proud of.
“During stress and during times we are struggling through right now, exercise and laughter is a combination that releases endorphins inside your body that makes you feel naturally good,” Pitts explained.
She’s been educating elementary students about the importance of staying healthy for nearly two decades and has now continued that online.
“In my lifetime, I’ve never seen this happen, but one thing about teachers in North East and any other district is that we are very flexible and we’ll do anything for our kids to succeed,” Pitts said.
From ‘Minute to Win It’ challenges, to neighborhood bear hunts, to obstacle courses, Coach Pitts makes learning fun for kids stuck at home.
“I’m speaking on behalf of the all the P.E. teachers. This is important to us because we want to win. We get involved and start looking at how can we get online and get these kids involved and moving. It’s really important that they move especially when they are really uncertain right now,” she added.
She also encourages families to keep the emotional health of every student in mind, too.
“Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is really important at this time; our District has been emphasizing that. During our P.E. lessons we actually hit on that a lot where I ask a kid how are they feeling or what do they do when they are anxious,” Pitts explained.
She loves to see her students smile and said she’ll do what it takes to bring them a little joy, even if it means getting slimed!
“We hit our goal for the American Heart Association and I told them if we hit our goal, I would get slimed. Since we were at home, my husband had the joy of sliming me and the kids got to see that. I got a lot of smiles from the kids,” she said.
And every single smile makes a difference.
“Find exercise and laughter in your life. We are in it together, teachers, parents, families, and kids. Even though it’s a really hard time, I know that we’ll battle through it,” Pitts said.
Because #NEISDcares!
