NEW FITNESS PROGRAM COULD BREATHE LIFE INTO P.E. CSUN PROFESSORS WOULD LEAD STUDENTS.Byline: Sue Doyle Staff Writer SAUGUS - Kids at Plum Canyon Elementary School elementary school: see school. this week headed off the playground for recess and instead ran laps around a grassy grass·y adj. grass·i·er, grass·i·est 1. Covered with or abounding in grass. 2. Resembling or suggestive of grass, as in color or odor. Adj. 1. field. The school was testing a new physical education program that it hopes the Saugus Union School District's school board will approve at an upcoming meeting. Hailing from the California State University, Northridge CSUN offers a variety of programs leading to bachelor's degrees in 61 fields and master's degrees in 42 fields. The university has over 150,000 alumni. It's also home to a summer musical theater/theater program known as TADW (TeenAge Drama Workshop) that leads teenagers through an , Department of Kinesiology kinesiology Study of the mechanics and anatomy of human movement and their roles in promoting health and reducing disease. Kinesiology has direct applications to fitness and health, including developing exercise programs for people with and without disabilities, preserving , the program includes fitness, nutrition and wellness and aims to improve the school's current physical education classes taught by classroom teachers and make pupils more aware of their health. ``It's about a change of behavior,'' said Principal Mary Jane Kelly Mary Jane Kelly (c. 1863 - November 9, 1888) is widely believed to be the fifth and final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who killed and mutilated prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of London during the late summer and autumn of 1888. , who hopes the kids keep moving during recess. If it gets the nod from the board, the program could be the answer to Plum Canyon's need to solve a problem many California public schools face - providing adequate physical education to students. State budget cuts years ago wiped out funding for physical education instructors at many public schools, leaving the job in the hands of classroom teachers who weren't specifically trained in the subject. Many schools have looked for ways to take the responsibility off teachers' shoulders and at the same time provide better physical education to their students. In some cases, parents in local PTA's have raised money to pay the salaries of physical education teachers who then come regularly to their children's schools. Under this program, physical education classes at Plum Canyon would be led by CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge staffers trained in exercise and fitness. If approved, CSUN will seek grants to pay for the staff. ``We're really trying to fight childhood obesity childhood obesity Public health Overweight in a child, an average BMI of ≥ 85% for age and sex; ≥ 95% for age and sex is very obese. See Body-mass index, Obesity. Cf Adult obesity. ,'' said Vicky Jaque-Kamp, assistant CSUN professor. State law requires that schoolchildren schoolchildren school npl → écoliers mpl; (at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl schoolchildren school get 200 minutes of physical education instruction every 10 days, averaging out to about 20 minutes a shot. Although sometimes teachers do run around the fields practicing sports with their students, other times physical education class is merely playing on the playground. ``I think the assumption is that if your kids can hop, that's OK. But that's not enough,'' said Jennifer Romack, CSUN assistant professor. Romack said the program focuses on skills children should learn at their grade levels, and that in the end kids will improve their abilities with sports and learn to enjoy being active and participating in athletics. Basketball, for example, would include instruction for throwing the ball. Another game, where the object is to steal tennis balls from opponents, focuses on strategizing and working with teammates. Sixth-grader Megan Dorr said P.E. class can either mean swinging on swings or playing softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' . As she ran around the field at school Friday, the 12-year-old said she's getting in shape for summer. And how are the workouts going? ``It's going pretty good,'' Megan said. ``I'm getting better at running.'' Sue Doyle, (661) 257-5254 sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Plum Canyon Elementary School student Travis Bird, 8, is a blur Friday as he runs a 1/8-mile course at the Saugus campus, part of a trial fitness program put on by CSUN staff. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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