Healthy Schools Program puts PE on Map
By Paul Swiech
pswiech@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON - Three Bloomington District 87schools hope to help transform the current generation of children. District 87's Sheridan Elementary, Bloomington Junior High and Bloomington High schools are among 300 schools representing 90 school districts throughout the country selected for the Healthy Schools Program.

One physical education teacher from each school - Gigi MacIntosh of Sheridan, Matt Willey of BJHS and Tony Bauman of BHS - are participating in the Healthy Schools Forum in Little Rock, Ark., which began Sunday and wraps up Tuesday.

Bloomington teachers and representatives of Illinois State University and the American Heart Association are excited the three schools were chosen from among applicants because teachers should return with specific ideas to improve PE and nutrition in schools.

"It truly puts Bloomington-Normal physical education on the map nationally," said Dale Brown, an ISU professor of kinesiology and recreation who has been working with local schools for four years to update their PE programs.

Whatever teachers learn in the coming year as they put changes into effect should benefit students throughout the area as information is shared with other schools and districts, Brown said.

The forum is part of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the heart association's partnership with the Clinton Foundation. Former President Bill Clinton is among speakers at the forum.

The alliance's goal is to halt the increase of childhood obesity in the United States within five years and to reverse the trend within 10 years, said Peggy Jones of Bloomington, the heart association's senior director of alliances and cultural health. The alliance wants to do that by working with industry, kids, health care and schools.

Overweight kids are at greater risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and depression.

"You can't take a kid who is 50 pounds overweight and whose body is failing and expect that kid to perform well academically," Brown said.

The forum will address in-school physical activity, including PE class; healthy foods, including what's in vending machines; after-school programs and snacks; and staff wellness.

"If I come out of there with one thing to help students, it will be beneficial," Willey said.

The alliance's role throughout the year is to provide assistance and share information about "best practices."

"We hope to have measurable results by the end of the school year at all three schools," said Karen Dennis, an ISU kinesiology and recreation instructor who also is at the forum. Schools that achieve specific goals will be recognized at the end of the year.

Brown began working last year with BHS and BJHS on revamping their PE programs to focus on safely accelerating students' heart rate through a variety of activities to reduce the risk of disease. Software that measures body fat, blood pressure, cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility and overall fitness not only determine students' strengths and areas of need but scores will be tracked over time so students are evaluated against themselves to determine disease risk, Brown and Willey said.

MacIntosh likes the idea of new strategies to improve PE and tracking student results kindergarten through 12th grade, as is done in other subjects.

"If they continue to hear the same messages (about health), hopefully they will take that information with them for the rest of their lives," she said.

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