Superintendent to Bike 600 Miles

Putting his body where his mouth is, Plymouth school Superintendent Gary Maestas is planning to bike from Maryland back to Massachusetts to inspire students to make their own health and wellness dreams with the Dream Ride.

In the past several years, health and wellness has become an important part of every school's mission as studies cite sedentary students and rising rates of obesity across the country. While there are many nutrition programs to encourage students to eat healthy and get exercise, it's ofen just words on a brochure.

"Everybody talks about doing something, and I'm tired of talking about things," Maestas said.

From June 6 through 12, Maestas wil be biking 80 miles a day from Aberdeen, Maryland back to Plymouth. It isn't just a stunt, however. With the help of a crew of students filming the project (and vocational students helping to keep the bike moving), Maestas will keep Plymouth students in touch with the project through a website as well as an integrated curiculum that will touch on mathematics, history, science, the English language arts and health and wellness.

Maestas is also planning to stop in at other schools during the ride to talk about the program with students there and at home through the Internet. All these students will be able to visit the project's website to follow the superintendent's progress and dozns of satistics like his speed, position, and heart rate thanks to technologies powerd in part by the iPhone.

"I want to inspire kids and adults," he said.

At the end of the trip, the plan is to integrate a helath and wellness fair to talk about how Plymouth students and parents can set their own health and activity goals. The final day will also incorporae a short children's ride of one or two miles to further encourage kids to get out there and get active, even if can seem a little daunting at times.