Miss Booser’s third graders at Franklin Elementary embrace ‘Fitness Friday’
Time for a quick fitness quiz: What does floss have to do with the term “butt-kickers?” Chances are, if you’re not in elementary school, you might not know.
KEYT NewsChannel 3 Chief Videographer Herb Tuyay and I spent time in Katie Booser’s third-grade classroom at Franklin Elementary School during what they call “Fitness Friday.”
Students broke out into a jumping jack session, then twisted in various dance movements before propelling themselves onto the floor in “plank” position.
“On Fitness Friday the kids get to come in exercise clothes and we pick some sort of movement activity for them to do,” said teacher Katie Booser.
Last week, it was yoga; the next week, Booser and the kids mixed it up, thanks to a word game.
“Awesome” translated to 20 jumping jacks. “Smart” — 15 squats. “Loved” brought on 20 of what’s referred to as “butt-kickers.”
“Happy,” which is student Noah Rodriquez’s favorite exercise, equates to “free dance.”
“We get to do whatever dance,” Noah explained.
Dancing the “Floss” is a top free dance pick for the kids. (And certainly not as easy as they make it look — at least for a reporter used to hiking mountain trails.)
“Before I had a very squirrelly class, very active,” Booser said. “There were a lot of kids in here, they were constantly wanting to move. I got them up and moving, they got their wiggles out and they literally could go straight back to what we were doing before.”
Booser said movement is key considering that this will be the students’ first year of crucial standardized testing. She credits local fitness guru Jenny Schatzle’s five-minute social media challenge urging people to move, wherever they are, as inspiration for her “Fitness Friday” class sessions.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I can try this in the classroom!'” Booser exclaimed.
Last year, Booser’s students tallied more than 10 hours of movement; this year’s goal is 20!
“It just feels really good cuz I just feel really free,” said student Indiana Hill.
“I have never done this back when I was littler,” Noah said.
“It’s literally five minutes. It’s not taking away … when I hear teachers say, ‘Oh I don’t have time for that,’ I’m like, ‘How do you *not* have time for it?'” Booser exclaimed.
