Download Why Physical Education Is So Important To A Student

WHY IS PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASS SO IMPORTANT TO MY CHILD?
Chagrin Falls School District has a goal “to improve student learning”. One way to achieve this goal is
with physical activity during the school day. The book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the
Brain by John J. Ratey, MD will make you rethink the importance of physical education in your child’s school day.
This book contains the justification for why all students need a quality physical education program that gives them the
knowledge and skills to be active through childhood and into adulthood. Dr. Ratey explains how through exercise
people can improve learning, decrease stress, anxiety, depression and help to treat attention deficit and addiction, and
combat hormonal changes and aging. Spark gets into the details of science, brain chemistry, research, and compelling
case studies behind the powerful effects of exercise and its relationship with the brain.
How Does it Actually Work? The brain is made up of one hundred billion neurons. An electrical signal shoots down an axon to the synapse where a
neurotransmitter transfers the message across the gap to the receiving dendrite. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) build and maintain this
circuitry. BDNF is considered like “Miracle-Gro” because if it is sprinkled onto neurons in a petri dish, the neurons automatically sprout new
branches, producing the same growth required for learning. Studies have shown that
BDNF increases with exercise, especially in the hippocampus, which is responsible for
working memory. In 1997, German researchers found that humans learn vocabulary words
20% faster following exercise than they did before, which correlated directly with the
levels of BDNF. Exercise also affects neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, serotonin,
and dopamine that have an impact on learning by improving alertness, attention, and
motivation. Glutamate, another neurotransmitter influenced by exercise, prepares nerve
cells to bind to one another, which is the basis for logging in new information.
We are encouraging our students to establish lifelong healthy habits: “The
Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education,
and Academic Performance” (2010) *
• Student physical activity may help improve academic performance including academic
achievement (e.g., grades, standardized test scores); academic behavior (e.g., on-task
behavior, attendance); and factors that can positively influence academic achievement (e.g.
concentration, attention, improved classroom behavior).
• This report is a literature review that examines the existing research on the relationship between school-based physical activity, including physical
education, and academic performance. It spans 23 years of research and includes 50 studies.
• The majority of the studies in this review report that physical activity was positively related to academic performance.
• Adding time during the school day for physical activity does not appear to take away from academic performance.
Thank You for allowing us to work with your child!
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Association between School-based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education, and Academic Performance. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services; 2010.