Arlee school board approves research focused on getting kids moving
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ARLEE – The school board passed doctoral student Vernon Grant’s request to study the physical activity level of upper grade elementary students during recess contingent on parental approval.
Grant faced questions from the board when he stated that he needed to set up a video camera to record students during recess to complete his study.
“Confidentiality is an integral part of working with this kind of data,” Grant said. “The video will be locked in a secure lab at the university. Everybody working on this project is trained to work with confidentiality.”
After scrutinizing the project, the board members were satisfied that Grant would respect students’ rights to privacy.
“I commend you on the work you’ve done so far,” said School Board Chairman Shelly Fyant said to Grant. “This is an exciting project.”
Grant introduced himself to the board as a member of the Blackfeet Tribe in Browning. He is currently attending the University of Montana. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in health enhancement and a teaching certificate through the State of Montana. He obtained a master’s degree in exercise science, and his doctoral studies are focused on obesity and diabetes prevention.
“I’m passionate about helping people live healthy lifestyles through increased physical activity.”
Grant hopes his study will show an increase in the physical activity levels of children if an adult explains how to play games, provides those games with structure, and interacts with them. He began developing the idea for his study by talking to people in the community.
“I had six talking circles in Arlee with fourth, fifth and sixth graders, parents, teachers and community members. I asked the kids for strategies that would help get them more active. They identified a need for structured activities.”
Grant’s study requires preparation.
“I will paint lines on the playground so they can play some of the games they’ve identified and I’ll show them how to play those games. Games like soccer, football, Ultimate Frisbee and basketball.”
Grant will use the video to determine if the students’ activity levels go up. The study continues every day at recess for eight weeks.
“I’ll watch the videos before and after I provide the structure to see if their activity levels change. I’m counting activity levels for sedentary, walking and very active. I’ll count the number of children in those intensity zones.”
Grant plans to present his findings to the University of Montana, the Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council, the Arlee School Board and to the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
“I’m using the information to write my dissertation and I’m looking for some baseline data to help get grants for bigger projects. This study could give us an idea for something that could be implemented reservation-wide to get kids moving.”
In other news, Katea Dreiling, sixth grade teacher, signed on as the new president for the Arlee Federation of Teachers. Before the meeting, she said she was proud to be in the new position.
“I want to continue building positive connections between the board and the staff,” Dreiling said.
Assistant high school volleyball coach Amanda Kase was hired at the meeting after Bachmeier asked about her coaching style.
“I believe that it’s important for all the girls to have playing time,” she said.
Principal Jim Taylor reported the high school and junior high events to the board.
“We are off to a good start this year,” Taylor said. “We have some high level kids really pushing themselves; we have two students taking math classes at the University of Montana in the morning. We had a drug dog come in. We were told this is one of the cleanest schools he has been in so far.”
Superintendent George Linthicum commented on the school’s emergency training seminar.
“We had many of the staff involved in the CPR training,” he said. “It’s reassuring to have so many of our staff trained.”
