More than 160 schools and 15,000 elementary students around the state now participate in the Healthy Futures Challenge, a biannual three-month program to empower children with the daily habit of physical activity.
Healthy Futures, the signature program of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, would not succeed without its partnership with the health and PE teachers statewide that get their students engaged in the Challenge.
Healthy Futures will present a ‘Featured Teacher’ each month of the school year to highlight some of the innovative in inspiring work being done and get a glance at the personal side of some of Alaska’s outstanding teachers.
Name: Kayla Clark
School: Woodriver Elementary School, Fairbanks
Position: PE Specialist
Years as a Teacher: 18
Years in the Healthy Futures Challenge: 9
Question: Who is your hero?
Answer: Billie Jean King.
Q: When you are not in the classroom you are where?
A: Underwater in the Caribbean or Pacific Ocean.
Q: What’s the craziest place you have ever been?
A: Pelagic Magic night dive in Hawaii, sleeping in a treehouse in Belize and jumping into waterfalls on the first day of winter in Australia.
Q: What’s your favorite recreation/fitness activity?
A: Scuba diving, running and playing hockey.
Q: What’s the most inspirational thing a student has ever said to you?
A: “Thank you for being my gym teacher and getting me to exercise. Because of you, you have really helped me figure out what sports I want to do.”
Q: What’s your favorite strategy for motivating kids to live a healthy lifestyle?
A: Modeling it with my own active lifestyle, grabbing onto every teachable moment and taking an interest in hearing about the activities that my students are participating in.