Bret Dupuis Bonkmonkeycomcast'net and David Hinds hinds57gmail'com

1
Rancho Running Program

• 2009 California Governors Challenge State
  Champion
• Running program Overview

2
Running Program Overview

• Running Program was started in November 2006
• Rancho students ran over 120,000 miles in just
  under 3 years
• This is the equivalent of almost 5 times around
  the circumference of the earth
• This is 480,000 laps around our quarter mile
  dirt track
• Rancho has 100 participation rate - Every
  student ran 10 miles and the highest was 454
  miles
• Last year over 150 students ran at least 100
  miles!
• 80 miles per student (average)
• Rancho averages 40,000 miles per year
• Rancho was named the 2009 California Governors
  Fitness Challenge Champion
• http//www.calgovcouncil.org/spotlight/schools/112
  /
• http//www.contracostatimes.com/education/ci_13360
  513?nclick_check1
• Rancho Academic Scores have increased 8 since
  running program inception
• Livermore 5th grade aerobic threshold has
  improved 8 since running program inception in 10
  schools
• Livermore students ran 150,000 miles in 2008-2009
  school year and is projected to go over 200,000
  miles in 2009-2010

3
How do we setup the program?

• Find a place a to run
• Rancho uses a ¼ mile track in the back of the
  school. Track was measured using GPS. You can
  also use a bike monitor.
• Our track is exactly a 1/4 mile
• Mark the track
• Create a process for tracking mileage
• Rancho teachers and volunteers hand out popsicle
  sticks to kids every lap (1/4 mile)
• At the end of running the kids are told to check
  in
• Mileage is measured using clipboards, broken out
  by grade, class and student (see example)
• Students go to their teacher our volunteer, tell
  them their grade, class and name
• The teacher/volunteer enters the number of ¼ mile
  laps run by the student
• This is repeated several times over the week,
  until the sheets are turned into the office each
  Friday at 3 PM
• Most miles are teacher led during PE
• We use Microsoft Excel to track results and send
  to staff to reward children each week
• Order rewards See next slide
• Present to parents/staff/students
• Start running and have fun!

4
How do we order rewards? And how many?

• Order Process - How do we order charms? (rancho
  example)
• Supplier - www.fitnessfinders.net
• Order form from the fitness finders catalog
  filled out and given to school secretary.
• School secretary gets PO and places order through
  the district office.
• With 10 Livermore Schools implementing the
  program the District now stocks the charms to
  expedite ordering process
• Budget How do you pay for the charms?
• PE funds, teacher/parent/sponsor donation or
  other budget used.
• Charm estimating How many do you need?
• 24" chains - Require 1.1x student enrollment
  (at least 10 surplus for lost or broken chains)
• Small feet - Max supply needed 10x student
  enrollment
• Big feet - 2x student enrollment
• 26.2 - Start with 100 and order as needed
• 50 and 100 - start with 100 and order as needed

5
When do you run?

• Class time - PE (This is a majority of the
  miles)
• Teacher Led PE
• Kids Run, Laps are registered on class tracker
  (see example)
• Teachers hand in every Friday
• Volunteer Voluntary, parent led
• Before School 8-825 M-W-F Some kids come to
  run as early as 730
• Need to setup a volunteer network
• Two Positions
• Lead Get to school at 755, get out sticks,
  trackers, etc.. Start the kids running
• Data Capture
• Parents that will enter the laps run for each
  students
• Ideally, this would be one parent for each grade
• Around 823 we tell the children to check in
• Each child goes to the person holding the
  clipboard for their grade
• Children tell the volunteer their class, name and
  laps
• Volunteer captures the information
• Children turn in sticks
• Repeat until all children are checked in.
• Takes 3-4 minutes for 100 kids

6
How do you capture and publish results? How do
you distribute rewards?

• Weekly Data Entry
• Each week, the results are entered into an excel
  spreadsheet for each class (see attached
  spreadsheet)
• The spreadsheet is setup similar to the trackers,
  by grade, class, student
• The spreadsheet is setup to capture classroom and
  volunteer results (before school)
• Each week you enter the results into the
  appropriate week (example)
• Publish results
• Each week after data entry, the results are sent
  to staff
• Results include overall mileage and weekly
  mileage
• Reward Children
• The fun part! Kids love this part
• Every Monday, the staff will receive an e-mail
  with results
• Teachers reward their children for efforts on
  Monday morning (or whenever they see fit)

7
Who runs the program?

• Rancho program is run by parents Bret Dupuis
  Bonkmonkey_at_comcast.net and David Hinds
  hinds57_at_gmail.com
• Roles/Responsibilities
• Charms Order and Distribution Responsible for
  ordering and distributing the charms to the staff
• Morning Volunteer Lead This person gets there
  early to get the kids running, i.e., 755 for an
  8 am start. They get out the sticks, trackers,
  monitor kids, etc.. This is split between
  different parents
• Morning Helpers Parents to help check the kids
  in. They need to be there toward the end of the
  running to capture the laps run by each child
  (many parents that are watching their kids run)
• Data Entry Responsible for entering the data
  weekly and sending to teachers. We use MS Excel,
  so this may be a required skill. Please contact
  for example Bonkmonkey_at_comcast.net
• The rest are just general responsibilities. QA
  with staff, learning and making process
  improvements, etc
• Remember The Rancho program succeeded because
  of its simplicity, we started with something
  much more complex and stripped it down to what it
  is today. Do NOT over engineer.

8
Governors Challenge

• We encourage you to participate in the California
  Governors Fitness Challenge
• This was a rewarding experience for Rancho Las
  Positas and every other school that participates
• The first step is to find a parent or teacher to
  lead the effort
• Follow the instructions on the website -
  http//www.calgovcouncil.org/challenge/
• Please contact us with any questions

9
Feedback

• We have received a lot of feedback from parents,
  staff and students. Amongst the highlights are
• "To see these kids wanting to help other kids
  ... it renews my optimism for the future of this
  great state." Jake Steinfeld, chairman of the
  Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and
  Sports.
• Thank you for believing in Sports and Fitness.
  To be balanced you need to be physically fit and
  mentally fit Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger
• "We think it's fantastic," Tuolumne Elementary
  Principal Mark Lewis (after receiving the Grand
  Prize as a gift from Rancho Las Positas). "I've
  had teachers come to my office with tears in
  their eyes with great gratitude. We had an
  assembly with students this morning and the
  students were stunned."
• We cant even get our Marines to run 3 miles
  Kindergarten father - Marine
• I am donating this 5000 because this program
  has changed my daughters life father of a 3rd
  grade student
• The doctor said it is the equivalent of losing
  30 lbs as an adult Mother of a 4th grader
  describing the pediatricians assessment of her
  son. This student has transformed himself into an
  athlete
• Wow your boys just wore us out in the second
  half.. We were gassed. - U-9 Soccer coach after
  playing a team with 8 Rancho runners
• After running, my students are very focused. I
  have seen an improvement in behavior and
  academics Rancho Teacher
• Rancho fitness has been featured in a number of
  printed, radio and TV news stories over the past
  3 years, both locally and nationally
• And many other stories from parents, teachers,
  students, etc.. Last year we received over 20
  e-mails from parents, nearly as many from the
  staff and an incredible amount of feedback from
  the students

10
Contact Information

• Please remember that it takes collaboration
  between a school staff, students and Parents to
  make a difference
• Parents are largely an underutilized resource
  that can make a huge impact on the lives of
  children
• Contact Information
• Bret Dupuis bonkmonkey_at_comcast.net
• David Hinds hinds57_at_gmail.com
• Facebook Raccoon Runners - Raccoonrunners_at_gmail.
  com

11
Rancho Track Fund

• Rancho students are currently running on a dirt
  track
• The track is a little treacherous, with many
  hazards including tree roots, rocks, playground
  equipment, thorny plants not to mention mud
  puddles from the sprinklers
• We are fundraising for a track and are making
  great progress
• If you are interested in donating, please visit
  our website for information
• http//ranchoschool.com/ or Contact Bret and
  Dave
• We are NOT a poor school, but are also not
  affluent and can use all the help we can get to
  make the track a reality
• Thanks for your consideration!