Westwoods Elementary School has received a grant to purchase desk pedals from Fox Grand Traverse as a new way for students to exercise and expel energy during the day. Teacher Jessica Bocian and Principal Jessie Houghton worked with City Bike Shop to get the bikes at cost and also provided free delivery and set up of the equipment. The bikes are being used in 5th grade classrooms.
“Research shows that increasing physical activity can help promote learning and enhance problem-solving abilities, however it is often difficult to ensure that each student each gets enough during the day. The bikes are a great help to provide movement while learning curriculum,” said Houghton. “Our students would pedal all day if they could. It’s really popular and our kids have a lot of fun.”
The desk pedals are made by Stamina and provide other benefits, including burning calories, improving circulation, toning muscles, and increasing heart rate. Pedaling at only one revolution per second can raise energy expenditure by 100%. The bikes provide students with a movement break within the classroom. The smooth and quiet pedal motion isn’t distracting to others, so students can focus all of their attention on their classwork.
“I must admit when first approached about this initiative I was somewhat apprehensive due to the fact that it was so out of the box as a way to harness the energy of young people in the classroom,” said Fox Grand Traverse General Manager Jim Jeffreys. “As a concerned parent and staff member of ours, Marybeth Steltzner, went on to explain in detail the methodology behind adding the bike pedal units for the kids, it became clear that we should help if possible. As a “high strung” kid in school myself at that age, this option may have helped avoid some of the trouble easily found when looking to burn off a little energy. We are happy to have been of service and look forward to hearing more about how the kids responded to them.”
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