No Child Left Unhealthy

By John Monahan

The embattled U.S. public school system often is likened to an overburdened farm wagon lugging its diverse crop of students behind the twin horses of government mandates and standardized tests. But despite the system’s ever-increasing challenges, enlightened parents, educators and even private enterprise are working to make public schools healthier, more compassionate places in which to learn.


Connecting mind and body
Lori Burgi is one parent advocate who has made a difference. In fact, she’s the reason why every student in grades one through eight in the Laguna Beach, Calif., school district takes a six- week unit of yoga as part of physical education (PE).
District officials were already receptive to yoga, but it was Burgi—a 10-year practitioner herself—who delivered a program called Yoga Ed. that included a pre-written curriculum teachers could readily incorporate. Still, it took a year-and-a-half to get buy-in from the board of education and various committees.