{ the education review }
The students bound into step aero-
bics and then begin a game of “softball,” a batless version with no teams and a small, yellow rubber ball. Since Sep- tember 2009, Hawkins’s curriculum has included a program that the D.C. public school system recently adopted called SPARK — Sports, Play, and Ac- tive Recreation for Kids — designed to combat child obesity by promoting healthy lifestyle changes and habits. Through SPARK, all of the District’s
schools will receive a new physical edu- cation curriculum with age-appropriate fitness lessons and activities, on-site teacher training and equipment: jump ropes, Frisbees, hula hoops and balls, as well as parachutes, rhythm sticks and juggling scarves. The program also
“
District of Columbia joins eight states with the highest rates of obesity in this age group, according to the 2007 Na- tional Survey of Children’s Health. To help finance the changes to its
physical education program, the D.C. public school system is using a $1.5 million federal grant that will be award- ed over three years through the Carol M. White Physical Education Program. The funds have enabled D.C. school ad- ministrators to add two new programs, including SPARK, and expand anoth- er one. The grant requires students to fill
out a Web-based survey that will as- sess their individual health and fitness progress four times a year. Federal stip- ulations also required school officials to
We are focusing on the skills, not so much as the games. The winners of the games are not important.”
comes with follow-up support and as- sessment tools. School officials said their goal is to
help reduce the increasing number of children who are overweight, which is in line with the Healthy Schools Act, passed this year by the D.C. City Coun- cil and signed into law by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. The act requires schools to provide students a prescribed number of hours of physical education and to serve meals that are higher in nutrition and include more locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. Childhood obesity has been the sub-
ject of much public attention this year since first lady Michelle Obama in February launched her “Let’s Move” initiative to help today’s kids become adults who maintain a healthy weight. Nearly 20 percent of the nation’s chil- dren ages 6 to 11 and 18 percent of those 12 to 19 are considered obese — more than triple what it was 30 years ago, ac- cording to a study published in 2008 in the Journal of the American Medi- cal Association. With 20 percent of children 10 to 17 reported as obese, the
submit a plan for sustaining the physi- cal education program once the grant expires June 30, 2012 — an assurance that should help improve health for stu- dents well into the future, said Heather Holaday, the health and physical educa- tion program manager for the District’s Office of Youth Engagement. Loudoun County was the only other
area school system on the list of federal grant recipients. Loudoun officials said the school system is providing teach- er training and purchasing equipment and structured fitness programs that align the physical education curriculum with health standards. Sheila Jones, supervisor for health,
physical education and driver’s educa- tion for Loudoun public schools, said the grant already has made a huge impact on the county’s physical education program by standardizing and raising the overall quality of physical education classes. The grant also has helped to boost morale among staff members, she said, noting that some longtime teachers have report- ed this year as their best ever because of the added equipment and the focus on
24 The WashingTon PosT Magazine | august 8, 2010
students’ personal fitness and health. Hawkins, the D.C. teacher, who has
12 years’ experience, said the grant will provide the equipment and training to help equalize physical education class- es throughout the D.C. school system. “What SPARK has done is to give schools whose principals don’t value PE as much, equipment and resources to make all PE programs successful,” he said. He said he deems himself lucky to
have received much of the equipment for his classes, in which traditional sports are offered but in a different way. “We are focusing on the skills, not so much as the games,” he said. “The win-
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