Get Your Energy Out

Teaching can be made more complex if students are restless and need to move. This was the case for Ms. Kate Czapla at Middle School East. She has students with anxiety and ADHD that need to move and fidget to learn.

Ms. Cazpla applied for a mini-grant to help her students channel their excess energy and anxiety through a productive outlet where they can stay in the classroom during a lesson. The Foundation was happy to fund her mini-grant “Get Your Energy Out” of kick bands for her students in Sep.

These kick bands go around the bottom of each chair, and students can fidget with their feet without disrupting the rest of the class. Since these kick bands are on each chair, students can use them when they feel anxious or have excess energy.

Since Ms. Czapla has started using them, students are enjoying the kick bands, and they seem to help them calm down and focus.  Middle school students can be rough with them sometimes, and she is replacing them as needed and reserving them for the kids that use them.  She said of the kick bands, “In any class, you can see some kids claiming those chairs and bouncing their feet as they work on their assignments.  Overall, they have been a welcome addition in our classroom as another tool for my students to help get their fidgets out.”

Support projects like Get Your Energy Out

Teachers don’t always have access to materials, technology, and other resources that can make the difference between a lesson forgotten the next day and one that lasts beyond graduation. That’s where you come in. Your contribution to the PVSD Foundation helps ensure that the Foundation can continue to support teachers in delivering enriching educational opportunities for all students when tax dollars and traditional revenue streams fall short.