FITNESS HOMEWORK PAYING OFF FOR SAUGUS DISTRICT KIDS.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Fifth-graders at Santa Clarita Elementary School breezed through the state's annual physical exam tests Friday after implementing an exercise regimen that assigned physical education homework to keep the students in shape year-round.

As physical education teacher Cindy Del Bagno individually tested students in the sit and reach, which measures stretching abilities and trunk lifts by having students lie prone on a mat and lift their heads as high as they can, those who were about to be tested stretched to warm up before their turn.

Christian Dyson, 11, seemed confident about his performance, explaining that he practiced for the test with the exercise that was assigned for homework.

``I hope I passed,'' he said when he finished, though he didn't have problems with any of the exercises.

Justin Peacock, 11, wasn't as blase about the test. After having some trouble keeping his knee straight during the stretching exercise, he got up moaning and clutching his knee as he limped to his shoes.

``I don't like it 'cause it hurts,'' he complained. ``I'm just gonna go back to class now.''

Del Bagno, a teacher at Santa Clarita Elementary for nine years, said students tend to have the most difficulty with exercises that test upper-body strength.

But after the school installed different-level bars for the students to practice pull-ups throughout the year, and students were able to substitute the challenge with push-ups, she's noticed an improvement.

``It used to be that one or two out of 30 students would pass pull-ups,'' she said. ``Now at least half are passing the test with the push-ups.''

Results released in December from the state Department of Education's annual physical fitness tests showed that most local fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders performed above state averages in 2001. Statewide, only an average of 23 percent of students met the standard.

Saugus Union District's fifth-graders, including those at Santa Clarita Elementary, performed near the top, with nearly 40 percent achieving all state fitness goals compared with only 21 percent statewide.

Principal Myron Groch attributes their success to introducing students to increased physical activities during and after school.

The state-mandated tests assess fifth-, seventh- and ninth-grade students in six major fitness areas, including cardiovascular endurance, body composition, abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and endurance and overall fitness.

Students tested in a one-mile walk or jog, pull-ups, stomach curl-ups, push-ups, the trunk lift and the sit and reach, and the school will submit the results to the state.

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Physical education specialist Cindy Del Bagno, left, measures how far Marina Peale, 10, can stretch during fitness testing. Del Bagno said students tend to have the most difficulty with exercises that test upper-body strength, but after the school installed different-level bars for the students to practice pull-ups throughout the year, she's noticed an improvement.

(2 -- color) Jenny Ho, 11, a fifth-grader at Santa Clarita Elementary School, undergoes a flexibility measurement during fitness testing at the school.

(3) Eleven-year-old Justin Peacock, left, recoils from a stretch as he is tested by Cindy Del Bagno, a physical education specialist at Santa Clarita Elementary School.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer