Bryant Elementary's running club focuses on fun, fitness
By Arleen Spenceley, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, November 6, 2009
The running club at Mary E. Bryant Elementary School meets Mondays and Thursdays for a 20-minute run around the field between Bryant’s campus and Farnell Middle School next door. “Some play baseball or football or soccer, but they don’t go out and play in the neighborhoods like we used to,” said coordinator Lois Shell.
ODESSA — When she leaves her classroom on Monday and Thursday afternoons, Lois Shell heads for the field behind the school.
There, she meets 160 students who clutch water bottles on the covered court.
They laugh and talk and horse around until Shell gives the word.
"Okay, let's go!"
A group at a time, she sends them — members of the running club — to the field. There, they run.
Shell, an Early Exceptional Learning Program teacher at Mary E. Bryant Elementary School, got the idea for a running club when her young niece and nephews in Seminole County told her about theirs.
"My one nephew was just so excited," she said. "None of the schools in (Tampa) had anything like it."
Shell saw potential.
"Childhood obesity is on the rise," she said. "I think we could make a difference in kids, if I can instill how important it is to take care of yourself."
She pitched the idea late last school year, and offered to give up her planning period twice a week to make it happen. In August, the school on Nine Eagles Drive invited kids to apply.
It started as a group for grades 2 to 5, but the response was huge, Shell said. Kids of all ages wanted in.
"I said I was going to cap it at 100, but I have 160 (members)," Shell said.
As part of the application, Shell asked kids to write a line or two to explain why they wanted to join the club.
"I like to exercise."
"To get better at soccer."
"To get healthy."
That, Shell said, is the point.
The club is for staying fit and having fun, she said, when kids otherwise might not get that chance.
"Some play baseball or football or soccer, but they don't go out and play in the neighborhoods like we used to," Shell said. "Running is something you can do anywhere, anytime, for the most part. You don't have to go to the gym. You don't have to have a bike."
So after school on Mondays and Thursdays, she and volunteers divide the kids into groups by grade level. Then, there is a 20-minute run around the field between Bryant's campus and Farnell Middle School next door. Each runs at his or her own pace.
After every lap, a volunteer gives each runner a Popsicle stick, to help keep track of how far each runs. Six laps is a mile, and 5 miles earns a student a prize.
After attending his or her first three running club sessions, each student gets a necklace. The prize at the end of every 5 miles is a new charm to hang on it. The incentive seems to work.
"The first day, they were excited and red-faced and talking a mile a minute all about it," said Courtney Peterson, whose sons, Chase, 9, and Payne, 7, are part of the club.
"After being in school all day, it gives them a chance to get outside as opposed to playing video games," she said. "I think it's a great idea."
Susan Snowdon thinks so, too. Her children — Brianna, 9, and Tyler, 8 — are also in the club.
"They really enjoy the camaraderie," she said. "I'm definitely hoping it inspires them to continue (being active)."
That's what Bryant's running club is about, Shell said.
"I don't want them to feel like they have to be this great runner," she said. And "hopefully, it will encourage a lifelong healthy lifestyle."
Arleen Spenceley can be reached at (813) 909-4617 or aspenceley@sptimes.com.
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