What can United States programs teach Australian educators?

The Morning Mile (TMM)

Although it is hard to believe, The Morning Mile (TMM) really has nothing to do with the one-mile distance. It’s more about getting moving. Every day students walk or run laps around a track or course to earn rewards for their accomplishment. It’s not the first program of its kind. Founder Fitz Koehler, has continually streamlined the best practices approach.  It is very popular in hundreds of schools.
Australia’s Daily PE program of the 80s and 90s sought to do similar things; but the take up by schools was ineffective. Manuals filled with lesson plans, music and extension skills were provided to schools right across the country through corporate sponsorship. The fundamental flaws quickly became evident.

1. Primary teachers generally completed a Bachelor of Arts (Primary Teaching) Many did it for a love of teaching, not a love of sport or movement. It was difficult to upskill them to run with the newly released program.
2. Lots of equipment. Covering many sports required schools to have a range of equipment, from balls of different sizes, types and composition, to sport specific racquets, bats and protective gear.
3. It was skills focused. Students were to be taught the necessary skills so they could elect to join clubs or participate in school-based teams. 

The Morning Mile Story

TTM’s founder, Koehler has been a fitness guru since the early 1990s, chiefly through her own company, Fitzness. In 2010, Koehler heard about a school run/walk program at a Gainesville school near where her children attended, and went to check it out. “I wish my kids could do that,” Koehler remembers thinking. “Oh my gosh, I wish all kids could do that!” And TMM was born.
The music and the rewards charms are non-negotiable. They are motivation tools which keep students going. Second, Koehler kept rewards for only every five miles and 100 miles, ignoring distances in between to make tracking easier with TMM’s custom software, the Mileage Master.
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“That really gets them going, they love earning those charms,” says Brian Tribby, a PE teacher at Gainsville. Koehler also focuses heavily on the culture. Every student is welcome to do as much or as little as they’d like, participation is purely voluntary, and no one can ever be late. 

The word “club” is also banned for its connotations of exclusivity. And friendly competition between friends, classrooms, and grades are encouraged.
She must be doing something right: According to Koehler, TMM schools average 65 to 97 percent participation from their student bodies, and examples of exceptional students, grades, and schools abound. Most mornings when Tribby arrives to start the music, more than a dozen students are already waiting on the track.
“As soon as they start running, you can hear them laughing and calling to each other,” Tribby says. “They love running; getting them to slow down is the trick.”

​Why TMM is so Effective

Another strength of TMM is how little is needed: just necklaces, plastic charms, outdoor speakers, donated time for coordinators, any kind of runnable loop, and maintenance costs for the tracking software. This may be the key to the success of the program over Australia’s Daily PE.
But to cover costs the program does incur, Koehler works to find sponsors for each school, which can range from health-focused corporations to enthusiastic local businesses. Under Armour launched a campaign through its MapMyRun community that will fund new TMM schools in several major cities.
Inspired by the Morning Milers? The Big Book of Running for Beginners will take you through everything you need to know to get started, step by step.
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