October 24, 2016 - Thanks to generous contributions from El Camino Hospital and El Camino Healthcare District, local students are getting more active at school with GoNoodle, an online suite of interactive movement videos. GoNoodle helps teachers motivate and engage students with 3-5 minute moderate to vigorous exercises they can perform next to their desks. Elementary students in Silicon Valley elementary schools are celebrating the incredible milestone of 16 million minutes of physical activity documented with GoNoodle this school year.
According to the CDC, only one-quarter of today’s youth meet the current recommendation of at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. With childhood obesity a pressing issue across the United States, incorporating precious minutes of movement into kids’ days has become more important than ever. Together with El Camino Hospital and El Camino Healthcare District, GoNoodle is helping Silicon Valley students accumulate vital movement minutes with entertaining experiences that feature high-energy dance music, fitness routines, virtual field trips and physical challenges. Through increased movement in the classroom, these elementary students are not only improving their health but also boosting their cognitive processing, focus and academic performance.
“By partnering with GoNoodle, El Camino Hospital is helping elementary school students get needed bouts of physical activity throughout the day “said Barbara Avery, director of Community Benefit at El Camino Hospital. “Teachers love the program because it helps students engage and focus in the classroom and students love GoNoodle because it is so much fun.”
“Reinvesting our Community Benefit funds in programs that promote exercise and encourage health is one of the most impactful ways we foster good physical and mental health in the communities we serve,” said Peter C. Fung, MD, MS, FACP, FAAN, FAHA, chair of the El Camino Healthcare District Board of Directors.
"Movement is critically important to the healthy development of kids and one of the best ways to help them focus, engage and retain what is being taught,” said Scott McQuigg, CEO and co-founder of GoNoodle. “Together with El Camino Hospital and El Camino Healthcare District, GoNoodle is getting thousands of students moving in the Silicon Valley area at school and home like never before.”
GoNoodle is currently sponsored to over 4,800 teachers in Silicon Valley schools, and 112,000 students across the region. During the 2015-16 school year, Silicon Valley students reached over 16 million minutes of physical activity documented in their classrooms with GoNoodle.
To use GoNoodle, teachers need to have a computer with an Internet connection and a shared screen such as a projector or interactive white board. Silicon Valley teachers in the sponsored schools have access to over 250 online movement videos, including exclusive GoNoodle PLUS videos that bring movement and core-subjects together to develop fluency in grade-specific math and ELA topics. These short movement videos incorporate kinesthetic and active learning principles by closely tying movement with core content. Both energizing and calming videos are available to help teachers channel kids’ energy for good while incorporating math, spelling and vocabulary. Thanks to a generous community contribution by El Camino Hospital and El Camino Healthcare District, teachers, kids and parents can access GoNoodle for free by visiting gonoodle.com.
About El Camino Healthcare District
The El Camino Hospital District was established by voter approval in 1956 in accordance with California Local Hospital District Law. The purpose of the District is to establish, maintain and operate or provide assistance in the operation of health facilities and other health care services provider, groups and organizations that are necessary for the maintenance of good physical and mental health in the communities served by the District. The District, now known as El Camino Healthcare District, encompasses most of Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills; a large portion of Sunnyvale, and small sections of Cupertino, Santa Clara, and Palo Alto. The publicly elected El Camino Healthcare District Board of Directors approves tax dollar expenditures, including expenditures for the award winning Community Benefit program. Community Benefit funds are granted each year to local nonprofits, schools and government programs that provide critical health services to the underserved. All District Board meetings are publically noticed, open to the public, and available for viewing at www.elcaminohealthcaredistrict.org
About El Camino Hospital
El Camino Hospital is an acute-care, 443-bed, nonprofit and locally governed organization with campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos, California. Key medical specialties include cancer, heart and vascular, men’s health, mental health, neuroscience, orthopedic and spine, senior health, urology, and the first Women's Hospital in Northern California. The hospital is recognized as a national leader in the use of health information technology and wireless communications, and has been named one of the 100 Top Hospitals® by Truven Health Analytics™ and one of 17 Everest Award winners in 2016. El Camino Hospital has also been awarded the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center as well as three consecutive ANCC Magnet Recognitions for Nursing Care.
About GoNoodle
GoNoodle gets kids moving to be their smartest, strongest, bravest, silliest, bestest selves. Short, interactive movement videos make it awesomely simple and fun to incorporate movement into every part of the day with dancing, stretching, running and even mindfulness activities. At school, teachers use GoNoodle to keep students energized, engaged, and active inside the classroom. At home, GoNoodle turns screen time into active time, so families can have fun and get moving together. Currently, 10 million kids use GoNoodle each month, in all 50 states and 168 countries. Learn more at www.gonoodle.com.
