Program uses technology to boost fitness education
To help combat childhood obesity, East Junior High School gym classes will infuse new technology into their curriculum this fall.
The school's physical education department will participate in a fitness pilot program for the 2008-09 school year, administered through the Department of Public Instruction.
The school will receive Fitnessgram fitness assessment software, training on implementing the tests and using the software, and technical assistance from the state at no cost. The school also will receive a $500 stipend for taking part in the program.
The program will help teachers track the progress of physical education students by measuring information such as their body mass index and submitting it through the computer. Then the state will study participants' health, said Chris Feidt, physical education teacher.
"It just makes things a little more concrete for the kids. It's not just us telling them; now they are going to see it from another source," Feidt said. "(The students) usually don't have anything to compare themselves to -- how other kids are going at other schools, and this will really give us a, 'Where we are at, what do we need to do?' to improve our fitness levels in this community."
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of children 6 to 19 years old are overweight or obese. The statistic has tripled since 1980.
This won't be the first time the physical education department has been creative regarding its curriculum. After receiving grant money earlier this school year, it also will make Dance, Dance Revolution, a dancing video game, available to students next year.
"With the budgets the way they are, anything that we can find where we can get aid or equipment is something we are more willing or apt to try," teacher Kris Slattery said. "That money is out there; that equipment is out there; that's huge for us."
More emphasis on fitness and cardiovascular exercise has been put in the curriculum, with the teachers seeing some real strides being made by the students, Feidt said.
"More and more, you see the kid who's struggling to run a lap and now we can run 10 laps, and that's rewarding," Feidt said.
By Adam Wise
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