Brain gains better grades through fitness

Summary: "The National visits an inner city high school in Saskatoon, SK, where one teacher went out on a limb to test the theory that vigorous daily exercise improves academic performance. City Park Collegiate is considered a high school of last resort for kids who haven't been able to make it anywhere else. The grade 8 and grade 9 students in teacher Allison Cameron's classes contend with a wide range of behavioural problems: almost half are diagnosed with ADHD and many work at a grade four level. When Allison came across groundbreaking research by Harvard psychiatrist John Ratey (author of Spark), showing a link between sustained aerobic activity and the brain's ability to learn, she took the data to her principal to make the case for a new approach. For Allison and her students, the program was a runaway success and test results prove it"--Container.