This article appeared as "A New Step Challenge" in the Spring 2024 issue of Independent School.
If walking helps us think more clearly, fourth graders at The Advent School (MA) have gotten a big dose of exercise for their brains and their bodies with a 20-week somewhat-virtual walk around their state.
In fall 2023, students started putting in the miles at Boston Public Garden—about a half mile from the school—typically walking, running, or skipping about 1 kilometer (just over a half mile) one day a week. Then, they pooled their distances and tracked the total distance along the edges of the state of Massachusetts—9,600 meters—with the goal of completing a virtual lap around the state in about 20 weeks.
“It’s a project that incorporates physical exercise, mental health, geography, and history. It very quickly evolved from something that only our class participated in to include families, other Advent classes, and staff members,” says Kate Boswell, who developed the idea with another fourth grade teacher, Jenn Meader, after seeing something similar when she worked at a school in Australia.
Each time they log their distance on the map, students stop to learn about the region or the natural, historical, or geological features of the area. They have studied Indigenous people from one area and mountains in another. They’ve even studied the Marconi Wireless Station in Wellfleet, from which the first transatlantic wireless messages were sent.
Boswell and Meader say that practicing social-emotional skills—having to lead, assist others, and work cooperatively—is among the greatest benefits of the project.
Fourth graders at The Advent School (MA) log steps toward a project that has them exploring their state virtually.
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