Station Stars: After several years of experimenting with what works for me as a teacher and what my students' enjoy, Station Stars has been an essential part of our PE program. I have chosen to focus on the Pole Climb or as we call it here, the "Big Bear Pole climb" and the Horizontal Ladder our "Spunky Monkey." Students practice these challenges on their own during recess time and several times during the year while in PE. We have our Big Bear and Spunky Monkey challenge twice during the school year. Once in the fall and again in the spring. I use the Station Stars for grades 2-5 and have seen a great increase in upper body strength in my students since we began the program. Each student who reaches a certain level on Station Stars has their name placed on the cafeteria wall on our PFA All Star Wall for all to see. The pictures included are of a class practicing the week before we began the Station Star challenges. I have also included pictures of Madison's All Star Wall for the Pole Climb, Smile Mile and Horizontal Ladder. In the background you can see new construction at our school. Finally we are getting a GYM. With this new facility opening in April, my students will benefit with a proper place to have a PE class!

Madison's Fitness Records can be found on the wall in our cafeteria which also serves as our gym. This list includes 8 activities that are tested twice each school year. These records are used to remind my students to set their goals high and strive to do their best.

Project Fit America's cups: This has become a mainstay in my PE program. Tummy Tuffy Challenge, Double Track Cup Attack, Jump Rope challenge and fast stack activities have become my students' favorites.

President's Challenge: My first challenge as a PE teacher. Project Fit has been a major influence on improving President's Challenge fitness scores year after year. I have had a 10% increase in National and Presidential Award winners since receiving our PFA equipment. Upper body strength continues to improve with kids using PFA. I test students 1-5 fall and spring on five fitness areas. Mile Run which is also Madison's Smile Mile challenge, sit-ups, pull-ups, shuttle run, and sit and reach. Students that qualify and meet certain national and presidential standards receive awards at the end of each school year. Examples of my test results are on the following pages as well as "Coach White's Wall of Fame," the wall where each qualifying student signs with his or her own personal touch.

Mileage Club: The "Feelin' good Mileage Club" is a new program I started this school year at Madison. with money that was provided by PFA for incentives, I was able to begin this program. Students are able to run or walk miles during their recess time. They earn plastic toe tokens for every 5 miles they complete. The class that completes the most miles at the end of school earns a class party. I have developed a graphing system to track each class' success. In addition to winning a toe token to wear on their shoe laces, each student fills out a paper running shoe with their name. This is then added to their class graph. Each day at lunch all classes can view the progress of their class as well as their competition. Madison students have completed over 3300 hundred miles to date. The graph of Madison's miles and an example of toe tokens are below.

Jump Rope for Heart: The Madison family is entering its 6th year as a Jump Rope for Heart School. As the coordinator I am proud to say I have been a part of a school-wide and community-wide effort that has raised many important dollars for the American Heart Association. To date Madison has raised 14,181 dollars for a great cause. I look forward to continued success as students become educated about their health and live a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Field Day: Each spring Madison has its annual field day. I also coordinate this event for my other school, Gibsonville Elementary. Both schools have 50 to 60 parent volunteers each year that make it a success. The following is an example of Coach White's field day. I included the basic rules, station instructions, starting times and the field day map. A successful field day requires lots of planning and hours of set-up time. I always view field day as a huge PE party, a PE lover's dream. As a special activity for our 5th and 5th graders, I have began the annual field day kickball tournament where we crown a new school champion each year.

Brad White ’s Teaching Philosophy and Curriculum

I am excited to be nominated for "Project Fit's All Star Teacher Award." Physical Education teachers at the elementary school level require your to become more than a teacher. You are a friend and a role model to hundreds of students. I believe that each student I see has different needs that must be met. Just finding the avenues to reach each student bring me a challenge in teaching. I demand respect from my students and focus on promoting good attitude and behavior. I put the responsibility of behavior back on my students which allows them to make good choices and helps them stay focused on our activities.

My philosophy is PE class is to "MOVE". I try to focus my lessons on activities that encourage my students to be active. The more movement that I get out of my students the more successful my lessons become. If I have students leave my class red-faced and sweating then I have reached my goal. I only have 40 minutes per class each week so a high energy class helps the students tremendously.

Project Fit America has changed my teaching focus. I have now become more determined to concentrate on fitness and have made it my number one priority of the Madison PE program. Since beginning to use Project Fit America in 2003, I have witnessed an improvement in my Presidential Fitness testing scores as well as a new excitement from my students about PE. I have used several Project Fit America Station Star activities, working extremely hard on the Pole Climb and Horizontal Ladder Stations. My students renamed the Pole Climb; it is now the Big Bear Pole Climb. I have set 3 levels which are : Baby, Mama and Big Daddy Bear. They have also changed the Pole Climb to the "Spunky Monkey" with challenge levels named: Chimp, Monkey and Gorilla to strive for. I have been lucky to have several talented students that have helped me by being role models for others to follow while using Project Fit America. Through hard work, my students have found success by gaining honorable mentions with the National Project America Kong record holders in the Pole Climb and honorable mention in the Horizontal ladder.

The success of my students allowed me to see an increase in their fitness levels over the past 3 years. The implementation of the wall charts help to show student accomplishments on the stations. As well as Madison's Smile Mile Wall, students strive to improve and be the best they can be. Aside from the running the station stars , I have used numerous lesson that were provided by Project Fit America. Lessons ranging from ideas to use on the Project Fit America Fitness Equipment to kickball action games to keep my students moving.

The first 7 years of my teaching career has been a collaborative effort from my students, parents, fellow teachers and administrators that have helped me build Madison's PE program. I could never take credit for all the success that my program has enjoyed. I feel I am teacher with an open mind and one who looks for programs that will benefit my students with healthy habits and lifestyles. Accolades are not something I look for on a personal level. I only hope for my students to succeed and receive recognition for their accomplishments. My student's enjoyment of PE class, a positive attitude and a willingness to learn area the best rewards a PE teacher could ask for. Having students who believe in what you are doing with their program, makes the sky the limit!

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