Mileage Club® is the #1 Run Club for kids in North America. But have you ever wondered how our Canadian neighbors, who use the metric system, run a Mileage Club? We talked to Claudine Lukawesky in Toronto, Ontario who was happy to share information about her school’s Kilometer Club (KC)!
"Kilometer Club was started at our school, Northlea EMS, approximately 10 years ago! It started as a pre-practice to help students prepare for Track & Field tryouts but quickly became a Club for any child. Our school has approximately 800 students from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 8. It is French Immersion, English, and Developmentally Delayed tracked."
"KC is run solely with parent and student volunteers, although we have staff members present for liability reasons. We only purchase our goods through Fitness Finders® due to safety reasons – we like that you make your products with no lead in the chains or plastic charms and that you now offer the safe LaceLink™ Lanyards."
"We always start KC on a Wednesday so we can make reminder announcements on Monday and Tuesday. (Many people would forget if we started on a Monday. 😊) KC “runs” for 13 mornings from 8-8:30, always ending on a Friday."
"Students are encouraged to run, walk, hop – we’ve even had kids in wheelchairs being pushed – around our 200-meter track. Every time they go around the track, they receive a popsicle stick. When I ring my cowbell at 8:30, students finish the lap they’re on and head to the “Attendance Table” where we record their number of sticks under their classroom teacher’s name. We do this for two reasons: to track the number of kilometers and to track KC attendance. At the end of the 13 days, the class with the most attendance wins a pizza lunch!"
"After the Attendance Table, students head over to the “Charm Table,” and pick out one charm for their bracelet. It doesn’t matter how many laps they’ve completed, all the children receive one charm per day of participation. This is done because we want ALL kids to participate and feel equal. Not everyone is an elite athlete, but at Kilometer Club you are treated like an athlete! We are just so proud of the effort from all the kids and want to focus on that instead of making it all about competition. Although, we do still encourage competition within yourself – and to get your class to participate to win the pizza lunch!"
"I have had so many parents thank me because of how our program has made their child feel included. Knowing that one charm is given out per day of participation, and not by number of laps, makes children feel so special that they are happy to come out for exercise. We have had kids with anxiety issues, and doing Kilometer Club before school helps them feel more relaxed. Children with ADD/ADHD burn off some extra energy so they can focus better in class."
"I'm going into my 10th year of Kilometer Club, and each year it is an honor to have kids in the neighborhood see me and come thank me for doing this program that they look forward to every year! The benefits of KC are that children are encouraging one another to participate; they are completing laps with friends; and, the older grades get to do a lot of the organizing and help out with the younger grades. Thanks to Fitness Finders for making safe products that encourage children to be active and do something!!"
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