Short Yoga Sessions Help Students Stay Fit

A Rochester school wants students to exercise 60 minutes every day.
One of the unique ways they're doing that is with yoga.
 These six graders in Mrs. Telles' class are warming up and working out with yoga at School No.12.
 Keysi Morato says she loves it.
 "It helps me every time I'm hyper. It helps me calm down when we're tired of doing math, it helps us to get our mind focused."
 Training for the program came from a grant through the Greater Rochester Health Foundation in the amount of $275,000.
 The money also helped pay for playground equipment, Nintendo Wii fitness stations and music to help the kids get going in their classrooms.
 Grant Coordinator and School No. 12 parent Lori Bryce says it's a perfect fit.
"There's like a mind/body connection and it works to keep the kids on track and keep them focused, and keep them in control of their bodies and themselves, and keep everyone together and it's a good transitional tool from activity to activity."
 Teachers use the yoga in short sessions, sometimes after lunch or before the end of the day.
 Bryce explained why. "You sit for a long time in school and you need that outlet, that physical outlet to really recharge your batteries and get rid of some of that energy that you otherwise maybe would not display in a not so positive way in the classroom. So we try to get all that energy out and give kids a chance to move themselves in a good, productive way and then focus on their academics."
 She hopes the kids will carry what they've learned home to teach others how to stay relaxed, focus and fit.
 "We're also reaching out to families in hopes that what the kids are learning in school  will transport back home and that we can make a difference not just in the building but in the whole community."
 Morato added "It's good for us and it will help us a lot."
 Similar grants have also been awarded to School No. 34 and 58.