Healthy School Challenge Helps Get Area Students and Teachers Moving
The Healthy School Challenge, presented by the Virginia 529 College Savings Plan and part of the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k, encourages area students to get active and healthy, and Swift Creek Middle School's Chris Calfee is one of its leading advocates.
By: Kayla Young and Molly Wright
Coach. Teacher. Runner. Physical activity advocate. Chris Calfee, a teacher at Swift Creek Middle School, carries many titles, but for the students he motivates and inspires to lead a healthy lifestyle, he’s simply the guy who makes becoming a runner a reality.
For each of the five years Calfee has been a teacher at Swift Creek, he has also been a leader in encouraging students to stay active. “Staying active builds healthy habits and makes them smarter,” said Calfee. “Studies show that those who participate in organized sports have higher IQ levels and better academic performance.”
The Healthy School Challenge, presented by the Virginia 529 College Savings Plan, has been the perfect tool to help Calfee get his students moving. The challenge encourages Richmond area middle and high school students to participate in the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k, and the schools with the highest percentage of student participation rates receive cash prizes. Swift Creek Middle School has been participating in the Healthy School Challenge since Calfee joined the staff.
With his own 27-year running history and his role as track and field and cross country coach, Calfee enjoys having the Healthy School Challenge to rally students to participate in the 10k. To keep students focused and motivated, Calfee displays old race bibs on a wall in his classroom to show students that hard work and dedication will get them to the finish line. Calfee knows firsthand that those lessons extend beyond physical activity and health and should be viewed as a metaphor about the lifelong payoffs of commitment and dedication.
“It proves to them that they can do anything, get in better shape, and embrace the metaphysical aspects of running without any worries of failure,” said Calfee of the message he hopes his bib display will send. His methods have been successful, and the Healthy School Challenge has helped him encourage all students, not just those on Swift Creek’s athletic teams, to get out and run. “It’s not just about building middle school athletes,” he explains. “It is about fostering a love of lifetime running.”
For the sixth consecutive year, close to 50 Swift Creek Middle School students will toe the starting line at the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k on April 13th. While they hope to earn an award for their school, Calfee will be right there with them, cheering them on and continuing to focus on the bigger picture of building healthy habits and fostering the beginnings of a lifetime of physical activity. “I firmly believe,” Calfee said, “that every mile is an investment in both happiness and a longer life.”