“It’s been night and day since we got the new PE equipment,” says Jeff Steindorf, one of the PE and Health teachers at Mountain View. In 2023-2024, BEF’s PE + Play initiative made it possible for MountainView Middle School students to double the number of sports activities they do in PE class. Now, they enjoy playing disc golf, pickleball, corn hole, ladder ball, volleyball, indoor and outdoor soccer, and so much more.For the past two years, BEF’s PE + Play initiative refilled school gyms with basic equipment like basketballs, soccer balls, jump ropes, Frisbees, hula hoops, and scooters.We impacted approximately 18,500students at 40 of our schools. “Now our students are more focused and involved in PE class. Sometimes middle schoolers are afraid of failure and get caught in a rut. Our new equipment exposes them to new things, and it gives them an open mind to participate and try new things,” Steindorf says.
