The Walking Classroom Institute is excited to announce that it has received a $451,000 grant to make The Walking Classroom program available to elementary school children in six rural North Carolina counties from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The grant will improve the lives of over 15,000 fourth and fifth grade students in Beaufort, Burke, Edgecombe, Halifax, McDowell, and Nash counties by allowing them to get extra exercise during the school day as they walk, while listening to entertaining and educational podcasts that support the required curriculum.
In addition to the grant from the Trust, The Walking Classroom Institute will provide in-kind donations of classroom materials totaling $333,000 to the six counties over the next 24 months.
Health-related messages embedded within the kid-friendly podcasts build health literacy and encourage healthy choices and a healthy lifestyle.
Laura Fenn, a former teacher and Executive Director of The Walking Classroom Institute says, “Students in low-income rural areas, where academic achievement is often low and childhood obesity rates are often high, will have a real opportunity to improve their health and academic outcomes with The Walking Classroom. We are really happy to make this tool available to so many teachers and their students as a result of this grant.”
Learn more about The Walking Classroom
T. Robinson-Freeman says
Congratulations, The Walking Classroom Institute. The WalkKits in the hands of so many teachers and students will be a great opportunity for students to walk, listen, and learn.