A Letter to Student-Athletes

October 14, 2014

Dear High School Student-Athlete:

There are many reasons to participate on a high school sports team.  Movement is the only way to nourish your brain.  A coach can be another adult in your life who wants you to succeed.  Your teammates become friends for life, and what’s cooler than representing your community?

In the New York Times bestselling book SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by Harvard Professor John J. Ratey, MD, it was reported that three months of exercise increased blood flow to the brain’s memory and learning areas by 30%.  There you have it.  The science behind why student-athletes outperform the general school population academically.  Athletes are also most likely to succeed in college and their chosen profession.  “Dumb jock?”  Don’t believe the myth!

When I was in high school (soon after Noah’s flood), I became bored during my sophomore year.  My grades were fine, but I wanted to quit school to experience more adventures in life.  The day I planned to drop-out, my PE teacher asked me to join his track team.  It was just the injection of adventure I needed.  To challenge myself to run faster, and to try to jump higher and farther every day was thrilling.  My coach spoke quiet words of wisdom as needed, and the thought of not finishing school never again crossed my mind.  Before graduating, I experienced the thrill of running on one of New York City’s best 3200 meter relay teams!

The teammates I met nearly 30 years ago are friends of mine to this day.  They are engineers, attorneys, police officers, civil servants, and great parents!  If I need expert advice, I know who to call.  When my spirits are down, they are there to lift me up.  I could not imagine growing old without them.  We were soldiers on the same high school battle grounds, so they know where I’m coming from.

For all of the above reasons, and many more, your participation on one of our high school teams will benefit you in ways yet to be revealed.  I support your continued growth, and will remain a resource for you as long as I walk this earth.  I’m confident your coaches will do the same.

Sincerely,

Jonathan T. Jefferson, Ed.D.

Director of Health, PE, & Athletics

Exercise and the Brain

Exercise and the Brain

By Jonathan Jefferson

“SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” by John J. Ratey, MD is the one book that all educators must read to fully understand the inseparable connection between exercise and the brain’s ability to acquire knowledge.  Long before this well structured, research-based book was released in 2008, I had admonished my colleagues that it was a misnomer to equate academic learning and exercise as two separate spheres if for no other reason than that the brain can only receive nourishment through movement.  Movement increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain priming it for the development of new neuron-passage ways.  Recent studies have also shown that coordinated movement (e.g. dance, martial arts, & yoga) are the most effective “steroids” for the brain.

Why is this topic important?  Far too often we find well-intentioned educators unwittingly act on assumptions which are too detached from prevailing research to be anything but ineffectual.  Having students engage in physical activity before classes and exams is much more beneficial than having them sit quietly and read.  However, the “control freaks” contingency of educators are disinclined to relinquish their illusion of control, which ultimately contributes to the detriment of student performance.  Let us truly put kids first and embrace the maxim of doing what is best for them; not what is most convenient for the adults.

Dr. Ratey thoroughly shared the success of Naperville Illinois’ school district in his book.  This district is lead by their physical education and wellness program.  On the 1999 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Naperville’s eighth graders placed sixth in the world in math and first in science.  He also reported that in Naperville students are deliberately scheduled for their most difficult classes following physical education class.  This is done to take advantage of their brain’s readiness to learn at that time.  Imagine that; a striving school district actually applying proven research to a successful end.

I am not surprised that “SPARK” is a best seller.  The research shared explains the benefits of exercise on stress, anxiety, depression, attention deficit, addiction, hormonal changes, aging, and learning.  There is something for everyone, and acting on the research shared can improve the quality of life for many.

In addition to this fine work, another great read specific to movement and the brain is Math and Movement by Suzy Koontz.

Bullying

Bullying

Dr. Jonathan T. Jefferson

“Never be bullied into silence.  Never allow yourself to be made a victim.  Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.” – Harvey S. Firestone

Chapter three of my book MUGAMORE begins with the above quote.  Bullying is one of the topics touched upon in that chapter, which is based on true personal accounts experienced during the 1976 – 77 school-year.  Believe it or not, as I keenly look back on my third-grade experiences, I believe the merciless physical and verbal abuse endured may have inadvertently led to beneficial outcomes in the trajectory of my life.

  

 How, you might ask, could being bullied have possibly produced positive outcomes?

Well, let’s consider that I had just been transferred from my neighborhood school to a higher performing school ten miles away.  As a late-year baby (November), I began kindergarten at age four.  I was physically smaller than most of the other children; especially the boys, and now I was academically smaller as well.  Canadian hockey fans know the benefits of being born earlier in the year (author Malcolm Gladwell gives extensive attention to this topic in his book Outliers).  In my case, consistent fear for my physical well-being made focusing on third-grade academics difficult at best.  After a miserable school-year fraught with repeated absences, I was back in the third grade the following school-year (’77-’78).  However, the gift of retrospect maintains that this was the best thing that could have happened to me.  During my second third-grade stint I found the other children were more my size -- physically and academically.  Consequently, I quickly found my stride and soon after began to thrive above and beyond expectations.

Clearly, I am not a proponent of bullying, nor am I promoting it as a path to some greater end-game.  It was just a coincidence that it contributed to a pivotal decision made for me by a concerned teacher.  The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) that became a law in New York State on July 1, 2012 is a step in the right direction.  It “…seeks to provide the State’s students with a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, a school bus and/or at a school function.”  To make this law complete, employees of the school system should have been afforded the additional protections (no intimidation, no taunting, & no bullying), and statements against cyber bullying should have been included.

To learn more about what you can do to contribute to a bully-free society, visit the following sites: www.bullying.org, www.cyberbullying.ca, and www.bullyingawarenessweek.org. There are a growing number of resources available on this topic.  Hopefully, in the near future, no child will need to experience the perils I did my first year in third grade.

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