Mercy Health Launches Partnership with GoNoodle

Using GoNoodle’s movement videos and games elementary students in Clark and Champaign counties are getting active in classrooms throughout the school day.

Mercy Health is supporting the use of GoNoodle Plus for all public and private elementary schools and more than 15,000 elementary aged children throughout Clark and Champaign counties over the next three years.

A new initiative has elementary students in Clark and Champaign counties participating in movement and mindfulness in their classrooms. With funding from Mercy Health-
Springfield, all public and private elementary schools will be using GoNoodle’s online movement videos to get kids running, jumping, dancing, stretching, and participating in calming activities next to their desks. This partnership with GoNoodle is expanding upon Mercy Health’s leadership in fostering healthy communities and its focus on preventive healthcare throughout Ohio.

Building on the success of Mercy Health’s initiative with GoNoodle in Putnam, Allen, and
Auglaize counties, Mercy Health is helping to expand this program to more than 900 elementary classrooms across Clark and Champaign counties. All elementary teachers will now have access to GoNoodle’s premium version, GoNoodle PLUS, which brings movement and mindfulness together with core-subjects to develop fluency in grade-specific math and English Language Arts (ELA) topics. With GoNoodle PLUS teachers have the ability to customize GoNoodle content, which further supports their
lesson plans and the academic goals of the classroom.

“Mercy Health is committed to helping our community be well in mind, body and spirit. GoNoodle’s innovative programming helps us fulfill that commitment,” said Matt Caldwell, President and CEO, Mercy Health - Springfield. “Our best weapon in the fight against illness is prevention. GoNoodle helps strengthen the minds and bodies of our children by encouraging them to move and play while they learn and we are pleased to make it available to our area schools.”

GoNoodle maximizes the scientific connection between physical activity, social and emotional health and better learning with hundreds of short videos and games that get kids moving. Grounded in research, use of GoNoodle delivers improvements in behavior, focus, academic performance and health.

According to the CDC, only one-quarter of today’s youth meet the current recommendation of at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Together with Mercy Health, GoNoodle is helping students accumulate vital minutes of physical activity with entertaining experiences that feature high-energy dance music, fitness routines, virtual field trips and physical challenges. Studies show with increased movement in the classroom, elementary students are not only improving their health but also boosting their cognitive
processing, focus and academic performance.

"Regular physical activity is critically important to the healthy development of kids. And, we know healthy kids do better in school,” said Scott McQuigg, Co-Founder of GoNoodle. “Teachers are using the power of movement to improve student performance, and parents are using GoNoodle to turn screen time into active time. Thanks to the generous support of Mercy Health, kids are moving and learning more with GoNoodle.”

To use GoNoodle, teachers need to have a computer with an internet connection and a shared screen such as a projector or interactive whiteboard. At home, kids can create and customize their accounts (with parent verification), and get playing GoNoodle online, on mobile, or on Apple TV. Thanks to a generous community contribution by Mercy Health teachers, parents, and kids will have access to GoNoodle Plus for free by signing up at gonoodle.com for the next three years.