A Great Way to Start the Morning

A post in which I write nothing about writing…

This morning marked the start of our school’s spring KM Club.

And, yes, this means I have to get the kids out of the house 40 minutes earlier than usual – which is a pain. But…

I’m always, always, reminded how worthwhile it is. Starting with our crossing guard who shows up early (like me, 40 mins early) to safely cross the gaggle of kids who head up to school early for KM club. Thank you crossing guard!

To all the parent volunteers who don terribly unattractive safety vests and line the sidewalk around the school yard as well as standing at the Start / Finish line to mark laps on hands with washable markers and sign kids out after the run is over. Thank you parent volunteers!

To Mme. H who always, and every week, walks with the kids through the laps – they love it. Thank you Mme. H!

To the kids who nearly kill themselves before school – competing with one another and with themselves – some rack up seven or eight marks which, on our .5 K course means up to four kilometres run before school. Also to the kids who amble along and chat with their friends. Thank you runners!

KM Club is an initiative started a couple of years ago at our school, and one I highly recommend to other schools. The benefits are myriad, and I will forget some, but here are a few:

Everyone is welcome. JK to Grade 8. No try-outs. No cuts. Friends run together. Siblings run together. Parents often run with their children.
Including his walk to school, my son had logged 3K before school started today. Pretty good.
Kids get to school on time! This isn’t a huge problem at our school, but if yours has a lateness issue, having a reason for kids to be on the premises early is useful.
Minimal investment required. Some markers. Some clipboards. Vests or even bright tape would do. Mostly parent volunteer time.
Teachers can use KM Club in their classes. In fact, just this morning my son’s teacher (the above mentioned Mme. H) looked at the marks on his hand, said “If you have five and the course is .5K, how far did you run?” Often the collective kilometres are tallied and the kids’ progress marked out on a map. One year we tried to complete Terry Fox’s marathon. Lots of ways to link running to learning.
Many extra-curriculars piggyback on KM Club. Cross-country and track, for example, will hold two practices per week then require participants to also do KM Club.

Try it! You might like it…