Healthy Educators & Hope

So I had this idea while running. During my first year of teaching I contracted bronchitis, strep throat and my favorite... chicken pox. While chicken pox- or as my son appropriately calls them, "chicken pops"- is a nightmare at a young age, you can only imagine the joy of being 23 and discovering pox in your throat and other more personal and tender places. The bronchitis and strep throat came from my students but ironically, the chicken pox came from the occupational therapist who worked with our students in the Special Day Class.

So here was the idea. Since the elementary teacher in Wichita, Kansas is blamed for everything from the price of gas to the on-going war in Iraq this causes quite a bit of stress. Not only is she solely responsible for the literacy crisis, math crisis, science crisis and lack of accountability with today's youth, but she still has to plan engaging lessons that inspire and motivate young minds. And don't forget the parents- making allies can take some time and energy. Sure, she has summer. But not really. I can not recall taking a full summer off since I was teaching summer school or doing temp work to make extra money which was really just necessary money to get through to the next school year. Given this amount of stress, I questioned what would have helped me as a new teacher and decided, somewhere between mile 3 and 4 of my early morning run, that the answer was so obvious: a healthy mind, body and spirit.

I shared this idea with the 63 students in a preservice course I am teaching this summer. These are future K-12 teachers. I asked how many people run. Very few hands went up. I then shared the idea of the Nike Plus World 10K run at the end of August and how I'd like to start a running club or some sort of organization for future teachers and discussed the benefits of health for themselves and as a model to their future students. The conversation picked up. In the end I promised to start a website (I have yet to figure out how to do that but I'm working on it) and the positive response was overwhelming. I came home to find 4 emails about this future website and building a community and the emails continue to come in two days later.

I believe in healthy minds, bodies and spirits. I also believe that people are hungry for hope and answers and communities. The economy and every day stressors can leave us feeling pessimistic, but even the promise of a website and inspiration elicited personal stories of wanting to lose weight, get healthy and feel good about themselves. As educators, we give a great deal to others which is both our privilege and challenge for we still need to care for the self. I'd like to hope I inspired others who will inspire another generation. We could all use a little more hope these days- along with healthier minds, bodies and spirits.

If you're interested in the Nike Plus World 10K run on Aug 31, go to: http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/humanrace/index.jsp