Clinton public school Coach Larry Calhoun, the star of the Move to Learn exercise break videos that are going viral among Mississippi classrooms, demonstrated his program at Enterprise Attendance Center Tuesday.

Enterprise third grade teacher Ronnye Hart got the ball rolling and invited Calhoun to come do a demonstration. This is her first year at Enterprise, although she has been a teacher for eight years. She said the exercise routines really get the kids mentally energized and focused. She said she’s being doing the routines for a couple years.

“I started the Move to Learn routines at a school I worked at last year,” she said. “I immediately noticed a difference in the kids’ attention level.

“The students like the five-minute videos and they do the routine right beside the desk,” she said. “It helps get their mind out of a lull if they’ve been doing a lot of sitting very quietly, writing and reading. After a long time with pencil and paper, they start wearing down and they start shutting down mentally.”

The program is sponsored by The Bower Foundation and the Mississippi Department of Education’s Office of Healthy Schools. The Bower Foundation is a Mississippi-based organization that gives financial support to projects and initiatives throughout the state that have innovative strategies in improving the health of Mississippians.

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

These 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.

The Bower Foundation and the MDE Office of Healthy Schools recognized the good fit of Calhoun’s physical routines with the classroom setting, and the quality shows in the number of teachers who are getting into the groove like Hart.

“There are several teachers here at Enterprise that are doing this already,” Hart said. “We love to Move to Learn. We exercise every day before we start our math lesson. I have noticed an improvement in the students’ ability to sit and focus during the entire lesson.”

The demonstration Tuesday was to introduce administrators, teachers and students to the Move to Learn Initiative. A team from The Bower Foundation and the Office of Healthy Schools accompanied Calhoun.

Improving nutrition and physical activity levels for Mississippi school children is a priority for the foundation and today’s public educators. Science is showing that healthy children are more likely to be academically successful, said Anne Travis, CEO of The Bower Foundation in a recent news release.

Scott Clements, director of MDE’s Office of Healthy Schools said, “Brief physical activity and increased fitness improve learning and test scores. With this in mind, Move to Learn was designed to be fun for students, improve learning, and assist teachers with classroom management.”

To learn more about the Move to Learn initiative visit the movement’s website at www.movetolearnms.org.