The past three academic years have been fraught with interrupted learning for students due to closures, quarantines and illnesses during the covid-19 pandemic

The Department of Defense Education Activity awarded a $1 million Block Grant to the Board of Education of North Hanover Town through the Competitive Grants: Promoting K-12 Student Achievement at Military-Connected Schools program. The grant will fund an exercise-learning intervention program at Wrightstown, NJ schools from September 2022 through May 2027.

The program aims to strengthen students' mind-body connection and self-regulation skills following disrupted learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. It integrates intentional physical activity into students' daily routines, based on research linking activity to social-emotional wellness and cognitive engagement. Activities will take place before, during and after school, tailored to individual student needs. Students requiring more support will receive more intensive intervention. Activities include exercise-learning, mindfulness, self-monitoring with heart rate units, and developing self-soothing strategies. All project components incorporate engaging technologies. The grant also supports job-embedded professional development for educators focusing on capacity-building and leadership.

Although our schools are returning to normal practices, our students are exhibiting difficulty with executive function, self-regulation, focusing, interpersonal skills, stamina, and academic gaps. This project is designed to prepare students for learning and to help students to self-regulate by strengthening the mind-body connection. Emphasizing wellness and movement in military connected children on joint base mcguire-DIX-lakehurst, NJ, IT integrates intentional physical activity into the student day, based on the research linking physical activity to social-emotional wellness and cognitive engagement. Activities take place before, during and after school in both formal and informal settings and vary according to the needs of the specific student. A tiered approach to exer-learning intervention will be applied, with students with the most significant needs receiving the most intervention. Activities range from exer-learning and gaming, to mindfulness and self-soothing strategies, to self-monitoring with heart rate units to identify and respond to stress detection. All project activities are enhanced with engaging technologies. Direct services to students are supported by a systemic, systematic, collaborative, job-embedded professional learning program, with an emphasis on internal capacity and the development of teacher efficacy and leadership. Military connected students who participate in project activities will be better prepared to learn with engaged brains, fit bodies and social-emotional wellness strategies.