"It was like night and day," recalls Allison Cameron, who teaches at Saskatoon’s City Park Collegiate.  The school for grade 8 - 12 students experiencing difficulty in regular school settings introduced Jog Your Memory last year, and now it is available to a larger group of students.

Jog Your Memory is a science-based program, designed to enhance mental focus, retention and cognition through specific physical activities before class instruction.  As Cameron explains to new students, "cardio exercise can build brain cells, then you learn, and the information sticks."

A few years ago when Cameron taught grade 6-8 at another school, she noticed marked improvement in the students’ behaviour after she took them on a run.  She mentioned this to Grant Roberts, owner of a local fitness club she belongs to.  He’d heard reports that exercise also improves academic performance, and delved deeper into the research.  Roberts and Cameron developed the Jog Your Memory program, and introduced it to her grade 8 students.

City Park Collegiate students have a variety of learning difficulties, including Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), severe learning disabilities, fetal alcohol syndrome, autism, and substance related problems. Cameron notes that more than half are either overweight or obese, many already diagnosed with diabetes.  Several evaluations conducted by teachers and the school division have shown significant improvements in academic performance with quality daily physical fitness.

"Last year it was easy for me to notice improvements, as I had the same students for the full school day," says Cameron.  "This year I team-teach on the equipment with different classes, and the other teachers tell me they also see huge improvements." 

The school has nine treadmills, six stationary bikes and one elliptical machine, as well as stability balls and SitFits.  The balls and SitFits are used to engage the core muscles while sitting.  Roberts arranged a donation of the SitFits from the manufacturer and the other equipment was donated by Mecca Fitness.
 
Jog Your Memory is an initiative of the Grant Roberts Fitness Foundation, which is dedicated to improving academic achievement and physical fitness for students of all ages. Reducing impulsivity and motivating students to learn are also key goals. 

"I am proud we are making inroads with our global initiative that started here in Saskatchewan," says Roberts.  "We even have Harvard's attention with the simple regenesis of improving academics and behaviour with daily exercise."

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