Organization: THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE
Mission: PROVIDE TEACHERS RESOURCES TO STRENGTHEN THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND ACADEMIC HEALTH OF CHILDREN.
Activities: THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE OFFERS TWO PRIMARY PROGRAMS: (1) THE WALKING CLASSROOM AND (2) THE WALKING CLASSROOM STEM PROGRAM. PROGRAMS ARE ALIGNED WITH THE CURRICULUM STANDARDS AND PROVIDE A SCHOOL YEAR'S WORTH OF EDUCATIONAL PODCASTS PRE-LOADED ON MP3-TYPE PLAYERS CALLED "WALKKITS". WALKKITS ARE PROVIDED FOR EACH STUDENT, AND EACH PODCAST IS SUPPORTED BY AN EXTENSIVE TEACHER'S GUIDE (INCLUDING LESSON PLANS, VOCABULARY WORDS, AND COMPREHENSION QUIZZES) OR DISCUSSION GUIDE TO HELP THE TEACHER/ FACILITATOR SYNTHESIZE LEARNING. OUR EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS MAY BE PURCHASED DIRECTLY BY SCHOOLS OR OTHER INTERESTED ORGANIZATIONS (AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS, HOMESCHOOLERS, ETC.).TEACHERS THAT WOULD LIKE TO IMPLEMENT OUR PROGRAM BUT THEIR SCHOOL CANNOT AFFORD TO PURCHASE PROGRAM MATERIALS, CAN GO TO WWW.THEWALKINGCLASSROOM.ORG AND APPLY TO BE ON A WAITING LIST TO GET A DONATED SET OF WALKKITS AND A TEACHER'S GUIDE. THE WALKING CLASSROOM INSTITUTE SEEKS DONATIONS AND GRANTS IN ORDER TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO DONATE CLASS SETS TO WAITING LIST TEACHERS. AS OF YEAR-END 2018, OUR PROGRAM IS BEING IMPLEMENTED IN OVER 2,000 CLASSROOMS, ACROSS 50 STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WITH MORE THAN 51,000 WALKKITS DISTRIBUTED SINCE INCEPTION. 2019 ACHIEVEMENTS: (1) INCREASED THE NUMBER OF CLASSROOMS THAT ARE IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMS FROM 33 IN 2012 TO WELL OVER 2,000 AT THE END OF 2019.(2) WE HAVE DISTRIBUTED A TOTAL OF OVER 51,000 WALKKIT AUDIO DEVICES SINCE 2011, 7,565 OF WHICH WERE DISTRIBUTED DURING 2019.(3) WE KNOW THAT TEACHERS SHARE CLASS SETS, AND WE CONSERVATIVELY ESTIMATE THAT ABOUT 75,000 STUDENTS HAVE BEEN SERVED IN 2019 (THE WALKKITS CAN BE USED YEAR AFTER YEAR). ACHIEVEMENTS THAT ARE NOT MEASURABLE: OUR ADOPTER FEEDBACK IS EXCELLENT AND ENCOURAGING. SURVEY RESPONSES FROM OVER 300 EDUCATORS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHO IMPLEMENTED THE WALKING CLASSROOM DURING THE 2017-18 SCHOOL YEAR ARE SUMMARIZED BELOW (DATA COMPILED BY UNC CHAPEL HILL RESEARCHERS):95% SAY THEY TRUST THE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT OF THE WALKING CLASSROOM (TWC)94% ENJOY DOING TWC WITH THEIR STUDENTS92% SAY THAT TWC IS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO INCREASE DISCUSSION AND ENGAGEMENT91% SAY TWC ENGAGES DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES90% SAY TWC IS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL TO DIFFERENTIATE INSTRUCTION86% SAY THAT LISTENING TO TWC PODCAST WHILE WALKING STRENGTHENS STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF PODCAST CONTENT87% SAY THEIR STUDENTS APPEAR TO BE IN BETTER MOODS AFTER A TWC LESSON.76% SAY THEIR STUDENTS ARE BETTER BEHAVED AFTER WALKING.60% SAW AN INCREASE IN HEALTH AWARENESS AND HEALTHY CHOICES IN THEIR STUDENTS AFTER TWC.FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS: ALSO INCLUDED IN THE UNC CHAPEL HILL SURVEY ASSESSMENT FROM THE 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR WERE SURVEY RESPONSES FROM OVER 2,500 STUDENTS, FROM URBAN, SUBURBAN AND RURAL SETTINGS ALL OVER THE UNITED STATES INDICATED THE FOLLOWING IN YEAR-END STUDENT SURVEYS:-80% AGREED THAT TWC HELPED THEM UNDERSTAND CONTENT-83% AGREED TWC MADE LEARNING MORE FUN-69% AGREED THAT THEY MADE HEALTHIER CHOICES SINCE PARTICIPATING IN TWC-71% AGREED THEY WERE BETTER ABLE TO CONCENTRATE THROUGHOUT THE DAY AFTER TWC-77% AGREED THAT THEY ENJOY WALKING MORE SINCE USING TWC-74% AGREED THAT THEY FEEL READY TO PARTICIPATE IN POST WALK DISCUSSIONS AFTER LISTENING TO A WALKING CLASSROOM PODCAST.
NTEE category: Education
Secondary category: Youth Development