Mike Bareis' Teaching Philosophy

It is truly an honor for me to be nominated for the Project Fit America All Star Teacher Award. The relationship with all involved with PFA has been both a professional and personal growth experience for me as an educator. Although I have been in public education for 22 years, I still believe in improving everyday that I go to school. PFA has helped me tremendously in this area. With the outdoor fitness center, sport hoops and building cups, PFA has provided me with materials that can motivate my students to become more aware of health issues at a very young age. The PFA trainers and lesson plans are outstanding on so many levels that it would take ten written pages to list all of the positive aspects.

My philosophy on education comes from my family background. Both of my parents were high school teachers for 34 years in the state of Michigan. They taught me to be a strong role model for my students, and to be caring and understanding adult for the children entrusted into my classroom. I sincerely believe that as Physical Education instructors, we are teaching life skills that will impact our students for the rest of their lives. Each day at school, I wear a shirt with a positive slogan on the importance of health and try to model that behavior for all of my students, both past and present.

The PFA challenges have worked wonderfully in my third and fourth grade classes. In Michigan, where we have limited days outside for physical education due to our weather, the PFA challenges have been a blessing. The Running Challenge, Jump Rope Challenge and the Ab Fitness Challenge provide a great cardiovascular workout for my students while the building cups are a great motivator throughout these challenges. The Pacer Challenge is a nice change of “pace” for my students and we include it in our Fitness Gram Testing. All of these challenges help me in motivating my students to participate in my Pierce Lake Mega Mile Club (a run/walk club I run during recess as well as an at home family version).

In the Chelsea School District we are now into the second phase of our Move Forward! Program. The major part of phase two is to incorporate PFA a booth our grade K-2 and 5-6 buildings. We have purchased building cups and sport hoops for both schools, as well as reconditioned and moved previously purchased PFA outdoor equipment to age appropriate levels. This year we will be fitness testing at all three of our elementary buildings! Working with great people from PFA has made this a reality and words alone cannot express how thankful I am to all of you at PFA.

I have a fantastic relationship with one of our local colleges, Eastern Michigan University, and because of this relationship, I am blessed with numerous student teachers. They all get hands on experience working with PFA equipment and lesson plans. This has been a very positive and productive learning experience for them. They take back to their professors what we are doing with PFA in class, and in turn, these professors have sent many more observers out to see what PFA is all about. I am excited that this expands the impact of PFA beyond the Chelsea School District.

In closing, I would like to again thank the PFA educators I have come to know over the last couple of years. It has been an outstanding relationship that I'm sure will only get better and stronger over the years.

Use of PFA Equipment and Adaptations

The Chelsea School district has 3 elementary schools divided by grade level. North Creek has grades k-2, Pierce Lake has grades 3-5 and South Meadows has grades 5-6. Mike is the PE teacher for all children in grades 3-6. The Move Forward! program was implemented in the fall of 2005 at Perce Lake. The purchase of new Project Fit equipment was part of this program. Project Fit equipment existed in the playgrounds of both North Creek and South Meadows schools, but was older and was at an inappropriate height for each school since it had been installed when the schools were grades k-6 (before the grade level division of schools.) Mike spearheaded the initiative to recondition and resize the PFA equipment at North Creek and South Meadows so that the children at these schools could participate in the PFA program in the fall of 2007.

Project fit testing is done for 3-6 grade students in the fall and spring of each school year (modified testing is done at the k-2 level) and includes testing on all pieces of the outdoor equipment as well as pacer challenges and mile run times. This program began in the fall of 2005 for third and fourth grade. It was so successful that Mike expanded the program to fifth and sixth grades for the 2007 school year. Test scores have increased with every test period since the start of the project. 96% of fifth grade students who had been part of the program for both third and forth grade gave the Project Fit America component of Move Forward! a favorable rating. This clearly shows how enthusiastic Mike’s students are about this program. Mike is not the PE teacher at the district’s K-2 school, but has been instrumental in getting aspects of the program started at that school.

To generate enthusiasm for the mile run, Mike has instituted a Mega Mileage Club where children can earn awards for miles run on the school track or at home with parents. This club is popular with children and Mike spends much of his free time documenting mileage and making sure all children get their awards.

Mike spent countless hours working with a fitness trainer from the Chelsea Community Hospital and four fourth grade students to create the Move Forward! Fun Family Fitness DVD. This DVD can be used by families together at home, by teachers in the school or just by the children on their own. The kids love seeing other students and Mr. Bareis as the participants in this video. It contains cardio and strength components, so it is a good compliment to the PFA program.

The Move Forward! Challenges Program offers children a chance to earn awards for completing challenges concerning nutrition and physical activity. The physical activity challenges include the PFA equipment, mileage club, family activities, and the fitness DVD so that children have an added incentive to take advantage of these activities. Mike promotes and administers this program through his PE classes at Pierce Lake.

Early each spring, Mike has a Move Forward! Day in PE where he has various stations set up throughout the gym. Children rotate through a variety of activities of their choice that are designed to encourage cardio and strength training. Mike also offers healthful snacks to keep the kids aware of all aspects of a healthful lifestyle. This is an activity the kids enjoy after a long Michigan winter and celebrates all they have done during the winter to stay healthy even though they have been indoors due to the weather.

Mike is very committed to reaching out to families to involve them in physical activities. They are encouraged to participate with their children in the Mega Mileage Club, the Fun Family Fitness DVD and the Move Forward! Challenges Program. Families are always welcome and encouraged to use the PFA equipment during non-school hours.

Mike is very committed to lifetime fitness which is obvious in the way he integrates the school PE program with Move Forward! and encourages children to be active beyond the school day. The children in his PE classes seem to feel good about themselves and as a result are willing to try to do an activity that they may not feel comfortable doing. They know support will be there from Mike and the other students. By promoting these various initiatives, Mike has helped to ensure students in the Chelsea School District should be well on their way to enjoying a more healthful lifestyle in the future.