Statements
Mission
Move! Music City is a 501 (c)(3) organization with a mission to empower students to live a healthier lifestyle, build resilience to stress and trauma and grow social emotional skills by developing a love of running and exercise.
Background
According to an article by Nickelle Smith of WKRN news, 20.4 percent of children ages 10 to 17 in Tennessee are obese. Tennessee is currently ranked the fourth- worst state for childhood obesity. Obese youth have elevated risk for health problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, unhealthy blood cholesterol patterns, and other health risks related to cardiovascular disease. Obesity can also have serious ramifications for kids' cognitive development and affect school attendance. Davidson County serves over 18,000 diverse elementary school students, with 48% of these students being on a free or reduced lunch program.
A majority of students come from Low or middle class families with limited exposure to the powerful impacts that physical activity can have on a child's life. We believe that our Timmy The Training Turtle running program can be the solution for aiding the obesity crisis that Tennessee is facing. When surveyed, 100% of teacher at Fall Hamilton Elementary stated that their students do not get enough structured physical activity throughout the school day. Our program can help instill healthy habits early on in a child's life by providing them with a running program that takes place during the school day to have an impact on EVERY student.
Move! Music City was founded in 2021 by a kindergarten teacher who had a vision to show the benefits of incorporating structured movement breaks throughout the school day. These structured movement breaks are proven to promote concentration in the classroom, build positive self-esteem, and create a healthier lifestyle for years to come. Our incentivized running program was piloted at piloted at Fall Hamilton elementary school in fourteen classrooms in 2021. With the programs great success at Fall Hamilton Elementary, we expanded into four MNPS elementary schools during the 22-23 school year serving over 1500 students!
Impact
Accomplishments
1. Successfully implemented our incentivized running program at four elementary schools. Fall Hamilton, Shwab, Lockeland & Paragon Mills Elementary.
2. Raised $20,000 through fundraisers and private donations.
3. Successfully hosted a community Fun Run at Two Rivers Park where 1500 family members/ students attended.
Goals
1. Raise enough funds to cover expansion of the program into two new schools as well as salary for full time executive director.
2. Create a Running Buddy Volunteer program for volunteers to run with students during the school day.
3. Host our annual Fun Run at Two Rivers Park where we provide transportation, health and fitness events, healthy snacks, water and Tshirts for all of our partner schools!
Needs
In the 2023-2024 school year, we are hoping to raise funds to support:
1)We want to provide incentive prizes to students in FOUR Nashville public schools. (folders, shoelaces, water bottles, wristbands and celebratory golden medal)
2) We want to continue to host our annual Fun Run. We will need funding for transportation, Fun Run supplies and provide enough money to provide our families with healthy snacks!
3) With the popularity and demand of our program, we are needing to hire on an executive director to help our organization successfully grow.
CEO Statement
If you ask any educator how the past two years have been in the school systems, there is a 99% chance that they will reply with the following adjectives; tough, challenging, difficult or draining. Covid 19 has had a substantial impact on our world and as adults we are taught that exercise is a great coping mechanism to deal with stress, trauma or grief. Why are we not teaching our children this same message? Seeing my students come in with anxiety, anger and sadness, I wanted to give them a tool to help aid with these emotions. Running not only has positive impacts on our physical health, it also has amazing impacts on our emotional health. I wanted to create a program that was implemented during the school day, so that ALL students could utilize it. Our incentivized running program is a way for students to take a break from academics to focus on their physical and mental health, while earning some practical incentive prizes.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Recreation & Sports - Physical Fitness/Community Recreational Facilities |
| Secondary Category: | Youth Development - |
| Tertiary Category: | Mental Health & Crisis Intervention - |
Areas Served
Move! Music City focuses on serving students in downtown Nashville. Davidson County serves over 18,000 diverse elementary school students, with 48% of these students being on a free or reduced lunch program.
| TN - Davidson |
