Over 100,000 Students From Indiana Participate in ACES
PROJECT ACES
'Shape up Indiana Youth Fitness Day'
Submitted by Kim Duchane, IAHPERD President
Indiana AHPERD would like to invite all Hoosiers to take part in this year’s All Children Exercising Simultaneously (ACES) Day. Thousands of children from across the state, as well as millions of children from all 50 states and almost 50 countries, will be exercising together on the first Wednesday in May at 10:00 am. This exciting event is held in conjunction with our Shape Up Indiana Youth Fitness Day and during AAHPERD’s National Physical Fitness and Sports month.
Project ACES is an excellent opportunity for your school community (students, teachers, administrators, and parents) to show their support for lifelong physical activity and the importance of health, physical education, recreation, and dance as part of a balanced curriculum.
It is also a great way to involve the community in planning and participating in this fun school event. Each school organizes its own ACES Day activity to suit its schedule and student interests. Participants can exercise, walk, jog, bike, dance, do aerobics, or plan a combination of activities for the 15+ minutes of the project. Feel free to be as creative as you like. Many schools choose to invite local celebrities or fitness leaders to the event and play music to create a festive atmosphere. Organizers can choose to get the whole school or selected classes involved. To get ideas about planning your event, visit the Indiana AHPERD web site at www.indiana-ahperd.org.
To demonstrate just how BIG this event is in Indiana, 251 public and private schools participated in this exciting statewide event in 1998. On that first Wednesday in May, it was reported that 92,545 students, 5659 teachers, 290 administrators, 2,071 school staff, and 867 individuals from the community were exercising simultaneously at 10:00 am. Project ACES has been praised by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance for focusing attention on the importance of physical activity in maintaining a health lifestyle.
Indiana AHPERD hopes you will encourage other teachers in your school corporation to participate in this exciting event. Report your activity to Dr. Kim Duchane at kaduchane@manchester.edu by May 1 in order to receive a special certificate of participation for your school. Please provide Teacher’s Name, School, Address/City/Zip, Email, and Estimated Number of Participating Students.