Kids Who Care

Spotlight on:

Lake Riviera Middle School
Brick, NJ

Grades 6—8

Promoting a healthy lifestyle for all

Brick Township has already been named “America’s Safest City” (2006);  based on the service efforts of the students at Lake Riviera Middle School, its residents may well receive top honors as possessing “America’s Healthiest Lifestyles.” Two of the school’s service-learning initiatives centered on promoting physical fitness and healthy habits for all ages.

Senior citizens, many of whom live in Brick’s abundant retirement communities, are quick to point out the value of attending the school’s “Family Fitness Fair” that is open to all residents. This annual event was organized, publicized, and guided by the students, who also designed and distributed informational brochures about the available activities. Among the activities that were taught by professionals in the community at the invite of the students were: step dancing, kickboxing, yoga, and Pilates.  In addition, the students prepared nutritional guides and suggestions for developing a healthier lifestyle.   Assistant principal Janet Czarnecki, who has been at the forefront of many of the school’s service-learning initiatives, says that the Character Education Team worked hard to improve the quality of the reflections.  Every individual who attended the Fair was requested to fill out a slip commenting on what had been gained from the experience. These comments were, in turn, given to the students, who reflected on them and added their own insights. 

The little ones were not forgotten too in Lake Riviera’s quest to foster healthy habits. The “Healthy Hand-Washing” project, initiated by an eighth-grade health class that was studying the transmission of germs, involved the older students teaching the proper hand-washing technique to the kindergartners. The eighth graders took the information they had learned and created a lesson for the little ones, adding age-appropriate questions, diagrams showing how germs are spread, and posters demonstrating the steps in effective hand-washing. Each eighth grader partnered with a kindergartner to make certain that every student had observed the steps. After the lesson, the Lake Riviera students helped the kindergartners create “stay well” cards for their families.

The little ones were enthusiastic in their response to being taught by the middle-schoolers. To quote a kindergartner:

Some eighth graders shared that the day was a successful “test case” to see if they would enjoy teaching the younger grades. Annie added that participation in these activities had provided a real “bonding experience’ with her peers that she didn’t feel in traditional classroom work.

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Get these lesson plans: 

• “Family Fitness Fair”
  
  Core ethical values addressed:  Responsibility, civic-mindedness, teamwork, cooperation, service to others
  
  Curriculum connections:  Health & P.E.; Language Arts; Science; Consumer, Family & Life Skills
  
  Tool:  Reflection activity for Family Fitness Fair
  
  
• “Healthy Hand-Washing”
  
  Core ethical values addressed:  Respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, citizenship
  
  Curriculum connections:  Health ed.; Language Arts; Science
  
  Tool:  Reflection activity for Healthy Hand-Washing