Ashland Park-Robbins Elementary School, Omaha
Field Club Elementary, Omaha
Sponsored by: Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Nebraska

Making Fitness Fun For Students

Watch the Slideshow

With so many distractions and fast-paced lifestyles facing children these days, it can be hard to encourage healthy options. However, a nation-wide organization is offering two metro schools a chance to make fitness fun and exciting for students.

Posted: 3:49 PM Oct 7, 2009
Reporter: Ann McIntire
Email Address: sixonline@wowt.com

With so many distractions and fast-paced lifestyles facing children these days, it can be hard to encourage healthy options. However, a nation-wide organization is offering two metro schools a chance to make fitness fun and exciting for students.
The conventional playground at Ashland Park/Robbins Elementary School is definitely fun for students, but in an individual way. Students play by themselves but they aren't really targeting a specific muscle group. The new equipment they received is all about fitness.

"It's kind of hard and fun," said 6th grader Jose Rodriguez. He had just completed three pull-ups on the new bar.
Alysa Thomas, also a 6th grader chose to try out the parallel bars. "You have to be able to hold up your body weight, and you have to make sure that your legs don't swing very much."

These students are working some new muscles on their new playground. It's a donation from the Project Fit America, a non-profit organization committed to health and wellness in schools.

Even if the students don't realize it, they're doing a lot for their bodies.

"The other playground is more of slides and stuff, and this stuff, it helps with your upper body strength and lower body strength," said Thomas.

P.E. teacher at Ashland Park/Robbins, Pat Frampton, said they are very excited to work with the new equipment. "You have arm strength, you have cardiovascular, you have leg strength, you have stomach strength, we can use the equipment for stretching, for flexibility, so it hits all areas of fitness."

With the help of their P.E. teachers, students are learning early on the importance of maintaining healthy bodies and lifestyles.
The goals for the students with the new equipment is to do a little more each day. If they can do one more pull up or hang a little longer on the bar, it will all add up over a year.

Fieldclub Elementary School also received the playground donation and dedicated it Wednesday afternoon. Fieldclub along with Ashland Park/Robbins join two other Omaha schools in the program.

Nationwide there are more than 730 schools in 40 states which participate in Project Fit America.