Frederick’s Orchard Grove Elementary School is making strides in fitness

Between the books in 11-year-old Dylan Wilson’s backpack lies the accessory other students at Orchard Grove Elementary School most covet: a plastic necklace with a kaleidoscope of pendants in the shape of shoes.

He has 66 pendants so far, one of the largest collections at a Frederick school that has developed an uncommon yet effective fascination with running.

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The school’s “mileage club” started in fall 2009 with the idea of handing out the charms as an incentive for kids to run during recess. But the results have surprised the staff. As kids ran, fitness scores rocketed and disciplinary problems dwindled.

And for whatever reason, test scores rose.

As schools are scrambling for solutions to the growing problem of childhood obesity, this one is drawing praise for finding a simple answer. Nearly all of the 680 students are running laps and wearing necklaces. This month, global corporation Henkel awarded the school $25,000 to build a three-lane, one-fifth-mile track in its hilly backyard.

“This is the model,” said Charlene Burgeson, executive director of the National Association of Sport and Physical Education. “Most kids, their experiences with running have only been in spurts. And here is a club that teaches [students] how to pace themselves [and] gain endurance. And at the end of the day, they can do so much more than they ever imagined.”

Federal data show there are three times as many obese children now than 30 years ago — an issue first lady Michelle Obama seeks to address in her “Let’s Move” campaign. Many corporations are backing educators in search of new ways to inspire children to get healthy. Across the nation, schools are planting vegetable gardens, adding nutrition classes and installing more playground equipment.

Henkel said 2,100 schools submitted entries in the contest that Orchard Grove won. “We were amazed by the number of innovations,” said Natalie Violi, program director for Henkel’s corporate giving.

Two years ago, the Orchard Grove staff just wanted to give kids something to do during recess. Teachers at the time were worried about an increase in fights, verbal and physical. Some also noticed that many students were not playing classic playground games.

“We have kids who come here who don’t know how to play kickball,” physical education teacher Brenda Tarquinio said. “We used to be able to do fun things just having a stick.”

So Tarquinio created a structure for recess. She set up orange cones around the field near the jungle gym. She used Popsicle sticks to help kids tally their laps on a course of five laps per mile. For every 25 laps, she awarded them a small plastic shoe. This granted entrance to the “mileage club.”

The charms became more elaborate: Snowflakes for running in January, shamrocks in March, turkeys in November. Names of members in the marathon club (just over 26 miles, or 131 laps) were posted on gymnasium walls. Then came the 100-mile club (500 laps). The charms became an Orchard Grove fad, akin to friendship bracelets or virtual pet keychains.