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Parents Of Pocomoke Middle School Students Make A Request

Parents of Pocomoke Middle School Students have done a wonderful thing by taking their concerns to the school board. Does the lack of recess have anything to do with educating the student for life or for educating the student so they can pass the required testing that gives the school a higher rating? Is it really about the student?

Pocomoke Middle School parents have a request of the school's administration: Please reinstate recess.

Most adults have some sense that taking a break from routine is a good thing, whether it's a few minutes to walk away from the task, 15 minutes to chat with co-workers or a full-fledged half-hour brisk walk. People who return to work (or the classroom) after a break often find themselves feeling refreshed, focused and ready to tackle the job at hand.

A break is a great stress reliever, too.

In today's public schools, everyone from administrators to teachers and students is feeling the pressure to increase test scores and meet the increasing demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Indeed, Pocomoke Middle School's elimination of recess was part of the effort to improve academic performance and raise test scores. Eliminating recess increases instructional time in the classroom.

But is this productive? Research indicates withholding recess may actually contribute to behavior problems and decreased ability to focus on the part of students, making elimination of recess counter-productive. A recent study on how recess affects academic performance found that in schools without recess, the amount of instructional time lost to fidgeting adds up to the amount of time it takes to have recess; the gain in instructional time may be without benefit. Other studies reach similar conclusions. Teachers who do not get an adult equivalent of recess may also become more irritable as the day wears on.

According to a 1998 study, this need for regular downtime is part of our physiological makeup -- our brains need a break every 90 to 110 minutes to recycle chemicals for long-term memory establishment. Regular physical activity can contribute to both mental and physical well-being.

Perhaps schools should seek to increase the quality -- as opposed to the quantity -- of available instructional time. Experience, tradition, science and observation all point to the same conclusion: Recess effectively contributes to an enhanced ability for students to focus on academics.

Pocomoke Middle School has now tried operating with and without recess. Short of discovering that academic performance improved dramatically without recess, administrators should reinstate recess as parents have requested.

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Parents Want To Know What Happened To Recess

NEWARK -- Parents of Pocomoke Middle School students told the school board they want recess reinstated at their children's school.

Several parents of PMS students attended Tuesday's board of education meeting to voice their concerns over the lack of recess offered to fourth- through eighth-graders at Pocomoke Middle. They called recess a "fundamental need" for the students.

"Recess is something ancient," parent Douglas Voss said. "It's timeless."

Voss said recess, which had been offered on a limited basis in recent years, was eliminated at the school this year in an effort to further increase test scores and academic performance. If it were implemented in a balanced way, he contended, a recess of just 30 minutes a day could be beneficial.

"A cognitive break in the middle of the day does improve academic performance," he told the school board.

Voss said the brain needed time to relax so that students could continue to engage cognitively during the latter half of the school day. He added that schools with recess had fewer discipline problems.

Another parent, Michael Hooks, compared the student dismissal at Pocomoke Middle in the afternoon to a scene in the movie "Grease," with kids sprinting out of the building. He said he and his wife had trouble getting their fourth-grader to do his homework after school because he was so wound up -- a problem they did not have with him last year, when he enjoyed recess at the elementary school.

"They don't have that outlet," he said.

Theophilus Moses said that with childhood obesity rates high, it was crucial that the middle schoolers get some time outside. "They are our future," he said. "We owe it to them."

Although school board members said they needed more time and information before they could make a decision on the matter, they did pass a motion to have Superintendent of Schools Jon Andes review the county's policies and procedures regarding recess and to make a recommendation on the subject to the board. They expect to address the issue by budget work session scheduled for Dec. 7.

"We're really going to take a hard look at this," board member Doug Dryden said, thanking the parents for their professional presentation. "This is the way the process is supposed to work."

PMS principal Caroline Bloxom stressed that the school worked in partnership with its parents in a statement that did not commit the school to any course of action on recess.

"We are partners with our parents," she said in a statement, "and we seek their involvement and feedback. In fact, being receptive to all opinions is crucial to school improvement."

www.worcestercountytimes.com