Articles of Interest

Spartanburg County, South Carolina

Project Fit America funding gets students off the couch
Exercise equipment makes gym class fun

By Dudley Brown <mailto:dudley.brown@shj.com>
Published: Saturday, February 2, 2008 | Updated: 7:20 am

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of four stories profiling projects being funded by the Mary Black Foundation this year. The foundation funds projects involving active living and early childhood development.

Spartanburg County youngsters at a yet-to-be-determined elementary school will take a different approach to physical education next academic year.

Project Fit America, a California-based nonprofit, is looking for a local school to use the agency's equipment in physical education classes. The Mary Black Foundation is providing a $16,300 grant toward the use of the equipment by a local school. Project Fit America is in its 18th year, and it has 600 schools in 300 cities and 40 states using the equipment designed by UCLA.

"You've heard of 'No Child Left Behind,' we're no child left on their behind," said Stacey Cook, PFA's executive director.

PFA provides schools with a freestanding outdoor structure with seven workout stations that address areas where kids often fail fitness tests. The equipment is constructed at an angle to make it accessible for people of all ages.

The county's schools must submit a request for proposal to be chosen for the project, which will serve as a pilot for South Carolina's schools. Equipment will be brought to the chosen school during the summer, and students will use it upon returning to school in the fall.

The structures have a horizontal ladder, parallel bars, pole climb, pull-up bars, sit-up station, step test station and vault bar. Cook said 85 percent of youngsters fail fitness tests measuring upper body, lower body and abdominal strength, as well as cardiovascular endurance and flexibility.

"Physical education is the only subject taught where kids aren't taught what they need to pass," Cook said.

While the equipment PFA advocates has bars for pull-ups and a station for sit-ups, a regimented workout isn't what the agency encourages for kids. They ask physical education teachers to find games the kids can play on the equipment.

"We want to foster a love for movement instead of focusing on doing the perfect sit-up," Cook said.

The indoor equipment includes cups that kids can build structures with after running laps and 3-pound hula hoops kids can get upper- and lower-body exercise with while strengthening their abdominal muscles.

Josef Lorenz, a physical education teacher at West View Elementary School, is familiar with PFA. He said P.E. teachers and classroom teachers can learn games that can be played with the structure. He said students can get exercise and have fun through the games during gym class and recess.

"It's another avenue to get kids excited," Lorenz said. "Whenever you bring in something new and challenging it excites kids. Once you get them going, they can see the benefits of getting more energy and feel better about running."

Lorenz said elementary students across the state now take at least two 30-minute physical education classes each week. Starting next year, students will be required to have 90 minutes of physical education a week. He said it'll be good to have the extra time to get those young heart rates up, and a program like PFA's could make gym class a lot more fun.

Cook said schools participating in the project get outdoor and indoor equipment. The outdoor structure is made of aluminium and has Plastisol coating on its metal to keep it from conducting heat in the summer and from being too cold in the winter.

The Mary Black Foundation's grant money will be used to purchase equipment for a local school, to train teachers in its use and to support the program for a couple of years.

"What was intriguing for us was a different approach to fitness and active living in the school setting," said Curt McPhail, program officer with the Mary Black Foundation.

McPhail said the foundation hopes schools across the state learn about PFA's program and become interested in participating in the program.