Move-ember returns to promote stress relief through exercise

For the second straight year, students and staff were line dancing, hula-hooping, running and playing basketball, among other activities, during the school’s Move-ember event, which took place from Nov. 13-Dec. 1.

Each day, either the Leadership class, an academic department or the administration hosted a physical activity during tutorial or lunch to help students de-stress during one of the hardest academic times of the year.

These activities were open to anyone and, depending on the day, could be found on either the upper or lower field, quad or gym, ASB president Nathon Chin said.

Move-ember started last year after the administration noticed that students were beginning to feel stressed out from the middle of November to early December due to final exams and the end of the first semester, assistant principal Brian Thompson said.

“Our community was looking at ways to reduce stress for our student population,” Thompson said. “It’s really healthy to work out, run or exercise when people are stressed out, so we created a three-week program where every day we have a different physical activity opportunity for students.”

The goal was mainly to do something to encourage our students to exercise, Thompson said.

Last year, Move-ember brought about 60 to 100 students out to exercise every day and 350 students and faculty to the Turkey Trot event.

After its success in recent years, Thompson said he hoped to officially implement Move-ember into the school’s annual event schedule.

“We definitely plan on having it again next year as it seems well liked by the student body,” Chin said.