With funding from the La Crosse Community Foundation, WKTY Cares, and LPEF, Logan Middle School will be able to purchase classroom sets of heart rate monitors to deepen students’ engagement in P.E. classes. The monitors will provide real-time individualized data with a goal of aiding in a long-term healthy lifestyle.

The Logan Middle School Heart Rate Monitor Program is for all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade P.E. students. The program enables students to establish a mastery of health-related fitness concepts and improve their overall health. Students using the monitors can utilize and access personalized data from their performance in P.E. classroom activities. This data will show students what is happening inside their bodies in relationship to intensity, which can be a very abstract concept for this age group to understand fully. During class, the students can see their real-time performance for immediate feedback. After class, the heart rate monitor application emails the student their data allowing the student to review and reflect on their performance. The data can help students to write goals and potentially increase motivation.

Teachers will also be able to give more personalized and hands-on instruction while tracking and monitoring students’ progress. Students starting the program in 6th grade should be able to see in 8th grade if their experiences in class over the last three years positively impacted their overall health.

After a successful start at Logan Middle School, the goal is to share the tools with Longfellow Middle School, and they could potentially be used for summer school classes, as well.

Thank you to the La Crosse Community Foundation and WKTY Cares for helping to fund this project!