Musty Old Gym Routine Gets Benched in Favor of Fun
With eyes fixed straight ahead and sweat glistening on his forehead, 11-year-old Eric Vasquez moves his feet frantically during his gym class to keep pace with computerized music and flashing neon arrows displayed on the screen of an arcade dance game.
“Whoa,†he says, wiping the sweat with his forearm.
Eric, a sixth-grader at Patrick Henry Middle School in Granada Hills, plays the interactive Dance Dance Revolution game in his school fitness lab every day after school and sometimes during lunch.
His enthusiasm, shared by many of his classmates, is encouraging to teachers and specialists such as Chad Fenwick, a physical education advisor with the Los Angeles Unified School District.
At a time of growing concern about obesity among children and low scores on state physical fitness tests, an increasing number of educators are adopting the theory that physical education should not be mindless push-ups and jumping-jacks.
“We’re not here like drill sergeants to train them,†Fenwick said. “We want them to find activities that they like to do.â€
That is the approach at Columbia Elementary School in El Monte, where the physical education curriculum includes nutrition lessons and other healthful lifestyle skills.
PE teachers Juan Scull and Justo Sham offer a range of activities, including traditional sports such as soccer and volleyball along with Ultimate Frisbee and korfball, a coed sport similar to basketball that emphasizes teamwork.
At Columbia, students also write reflective essays and keep fitness journals and spreadsheets that record their times running the mile.
The school also brings in guest chefs and offers after-school seminars in English and Spanish for parents to learn how to shop for and prepare nutritionally balanced meals, said Columbia Principal Lorraine Torres.
The current approach to fitness at Patrick Henry and Columbia, labeled new or progressive physical education, has been gaining momentum over the last decade, Fenwick said.
More than half of all middle and high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District are beginning to adopt new physical education classes and curricula; about six have full-scale programs up and running, Fenwick said.
Last month, state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said that fewer than a third of all fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders in public schools achieved minimum levels on state fitness tests. He challenged schools to improve their PE programs.
Both Columbia and Patrick Henry already have cardio-fitness labs complete with treadmills, elliptical trainers, rowing machines and exercise bikes, mostly financed with grants. The labs are a first for many pupils who have never been to fitness clubs, and students say they are a welcome change of pace.
“It’s easier, and it’s fun to talk to people while you’re exercising,†said 13-year-old Andy Chen, who attends Columbia. “It’s not too cold or too hot. It’s a controlled temperature.â€
The fitness lab at Patrick Henry is open to the public before and after school and on weekends for an annual fee, which pays for maintenance and staffing, among other things.
By allowing the public to use the fitness center, officials hope to get parents more involved in the health and fitness of their children.
“It always comes back to the parents and the support [children] get at home,†said David Woods, as he toiled on one of the treadmills at the fitness lab at Patrick Henry Middle School one evening.
Woods, 48, whose daughter Rebecca is in seventh grade, started going to the fitness center last year with her.
She would play the Dance Dance Revolution game while he used the other exercise equipment.
“She got herself in shape here,†Woods said. “She went from round to long and lean.â€
Students at Patrick Henry also ride mountain bikes and rollerblade along school trails. They can learn gymnastics and how to use a compass and a map to compete at orienteering, a game in which teams race from destination to destination.
Seventh-graders in Lori MacDonald’s dance class at Patrick Henry giggled as they tried to match the fast pace she set for a Romanian folk dance. A chorus of cheers erupted when “Just a Girl†by the rock band No Doubt was piped over the speakers.â€Can we do it again?†one girl asked.
During spring semester, students at Patrick Henry swing from a ropes course suspended about 50 feet above the ground. Wearing helmets and harnesses, students work their way up to scaling a 16-foot rock-climbing wall near the gymnasium.
But these types of PE classes are not only for schools that can afford them, said Debbie Vigil, a physical education consultant with the California Department of Education. Schools can be just as innovative without added equipment, she said.
Columbia doesn’t have a gymnasium or a locker room, so Sham and Scull instruct students outdoors in yoga techniques and the proper swing and etiquette required in golf.
Students still run the traditional laps around the field, but with added incentives: Boys get a blue T-shirt if they can run a mile in less than seven minutes, a red shirt for less than six minutes. Girls have an extra minute to qualify for the prizes.
Earning the shirt has become a personal challenge for some students.
Andy Chen, the Columbia seventh-grader, would be happy to receive a T-shirt this year, but he is already thrilled to have shaved more than two minutes from his previous 13-minute mile run. Andy admires the agility he says his thinner classmates exhibit on the field.
“When I see skinny people run, they run so easily,†he said. “I maneuver through the field because I’m so bulky.â€
His struggle with his weight prompted him to write a letter to the principal this year seeking an additional elective class that would focus on weight management and other fitness issues.
With the support of his teachers, Andy persuaded about 20 classmates to sign a petition. The district is considering approving the proposed class.
“I want to lose weight for myself,†Andy said. “I would want people like me to see physical education as a friend, as a fun activity.â€
