Westfall Elementary School's Mileage Club Getting Students Active

I remember elementary playground competitions for recess. There was kickball, swings, and who can forget the monkey bars. But the kids at Westfall elementary school in Choctaw, have taken this competition thing to another level. 

Students at Westfall have been running throughout the entire school year.

“I run around the track every day,” said kindergartener Tyde.   

They call it the mileage club. 

“During recess, the students have the option to run laps around the tracks on the upper or lower playground,” said Westfall PE teacher Conner Howard.

It started as a way to get students active. 

“Each lap is one fifth of a mile, so if they run five laps then they get a mile,” said Howard.  

And this is all done during their recess. 

“They have the option to play, but then they’re running laps so they’re staying active and having fun while they’re doing it,” said Howard.  

“I run three miles every day and I just don’t play,” said Tyde.  

And every day the miles are increasing.  

“This year, I’m on my fifty, last year I had one hundred seventy-five,” said third grader Elodie.  

“One hundred and fifty miles,” said Chase, a fifth grader at Westfall. 

“One hundred and seventy-five,” said Tyde. 

Each student starts the year with an empty necklace. 

“They earn feet, so every five miles they get a little foot charm,” said Howard.  

And as the feet add up, so does the competition. 

“Once they get to five feet, which would be twenty-five miles they then get a twenty-five-mile charm that they get recognized at our Friday assembly called Westfall rising,” said Howard. 

“I just like getting these charms and stuff,” said first grader Ledger.  

“That’s one of the parts I like about running is getting my name called at Westfall rising,” said fifth grader Jacob. 

For the students that reach that 100-mile mark, there is the plaque, proudly posted in the gym to inspire future runners and maybe create future track stars. 

“I want to do track in middle school,” said Chase. 

“I want to do track in middle school too,” said Jacob. 

The students love the mileage club, and you can typically find them running when the weather permits outside recess. The other teachers love it as well, they said students release a lot of energy and typically come back to class more focused.