The Chaparral Fitness Club is a fitness program that runs from September through April every year.  Our students have the option to run or walk three days a week on the track, at a designated time during their lunch recesses.  Each grade receives 15 minutes to try to complete as many laps as they can during that time, and every individual’s laps are counted and tracked throughout the year.  Students earn toe token charms for every 10 miles they complete and work towards earning one of six levels of awards personalized with their names and the number of total miles completed for the year.  We present these awards at an all-school end-of-the-year ceremony.  Our awards currently consist of a bronze, silver, and gold medal, and a 10 in., 11 in., and 12 in. trophy.  We design our award structure to motivate, challenge, and reward all levels of walkers and runners at the school.

In addition to individual incentives and awards, we also give out a monthly “shoe” award for the class with the most miles completed in each grade.  The shoe awards are meant to promote unity and teamwork within each class, as typically the classes with the highest number of participants, not necessarily the fastest kids, win the shoe awards.  Our students absolutely love the shoe awards and are fueled by the healthy competition among the classes.

How can I get involved?

It takes an incredible amount of volunteer effort to run the Fitness Club program for its eight-month duration every year.  We break each Fitness Club day (3 days/week) into two shifts, and staff each shift with a minimum of 4 volunteers.  Each shift is generally about 1.25 - 1.5 hours.  Volunteer duties include handing out and counting tally sticks, assisting students in recording laps, spraying students down with a hose on hot days, ensuring students are showing good character and following track rules, and general setting up and tearing down of the timer, table, clipboards, etc...  We are always looking for new regular volunteers who can commit to a shift for the duration of the year, or dependable subs who can step in the event that regular volunteers cannot make their shifts.

For more information…

Julienne Alberico : jkalberico@gmail.com
Lori McGuire : ben.lori.mcguire@gmail.com
Jillian Miller : jillianrumiller@gmail.com
Jen Anderson : Jenjanderson12@gmail.com
Jen Dobson : jendobson@gmail.com