Maddie Sturcke, Reporter
@sturcke_courant
You are sitting in class and doing a worksheet as you look out window into the endless pile of snow being dumped on the ground. You realize that you will not be able to reach your 10,000 step goal for the today and you’ve been feeling sluggish lately.
While getting outside in the cold weather can be a daily struggle, it doesn’t have to be anymore due to the creation of a new activity program, called the “Healthy Living Trials!”
New Canaan district Nursing Supervisor, Jane Reed alongside NCHS, Josie Davies, created a program within the High School that promotes health, fitness, and wellness within the school community. Ms. Reed and Ms. Davies had noticed two years back that there was much less activity within the student and staff population during the colder months; as nurses they felt that it was part of their job to ensure a program where everyone can be active and remain efficient throughout the school day.
Ms. Reed mentioned, “Our goal is for everyone to do 10,000 steps a day, so our routes are just a tool to get there,” said Ms. Reed.
However, before they would put the Ram Route into action, Ms. Reed and Ms. Davies first needed to propose a grant in order to set a funding. The first step of creating the program was proposing a grant. Ms. Davies explained the process, “We filled out the grant application and we were working with the PFA who was extremely helpful, but also they’re very careful as far as their process of distributing money and supportive,” Ms. Davies said.
PFA position Patricia Klapper feels that the program deserved to be granted because it was a simple way to get the entire school community to become more aware of their health and activity. explains why she felt why the program was important for the school “Although our community is lucky enough to have wonderful sports teams that involve many students, there are also many who have other interests and may not be exposed to fitness programs, Mrs. Klapper said, “There are also teachers who may not have the time to dedicate to fitness activities. This program tries to instill basic knowledge about the benefits of movement, because it is known that physical activity promotes concentration, and improves attendance and academic performance.”
Assistant principal Dr. Veronica Leduc feels that the ram route will be beneficial for the students and faculty of NCHS because it is so accessible. “I think it’s a great idea that the nurses came up with and I think it was inspirational to come up with a low-cost, low-key way to encourage healthy living,” said Dr. Leduc.
In order to have a better understanding of how the Ram Route could lead to a healthier lifestyle, Ms. Reed and Ms. Davies need to research the benefits of being more active. “We just wanted to increase awareness about all of us being more active in our day,” Ms. Reed said. “We found that activity increases the concentration and focus of students and staff and improves attendance and behavior and academic performance, and let’s face it, it’s just good for us,” she said.
The main idea of the ram route is that there are three paths set up throughout the school, with markers notifying the number of steps at that point from the start near the spiral staircase.
Ms. Reed and Ms. Davies felt it would help to have a map of the routes so they asked sophomore Jackson Oehmler to illustrate the map that would show the routes in a creative and simple way. He said, “I took the old school map and blocked out the excess numbers and what was left was the basic map and I knew where the classrooms were, like TV broadcasting, the cafeteria, and the auditorium, and I used clip art.”
