Pushups and planks--they might not be the most fun gym activities, but these Sioux Falls fourth graders are doing them with a smile.
"I like running around with my friends," Fourth Grader Jessica Flores said.
Jessica Flores is one of the students at Hawthorne Elementary taking part in this circuit class.
"We're doing our stations," Flores said.
Every time the music ends, students switch stations. The seven stations range from jumping jacks to...
"The wobble board," Flores said.
These Sioux Falls School District PE classes now focus on muscular strength, endurance, flexibility and body composition--all to fight back against the childhood obesity epidemic.
"We've seen the research. The American population is getting bigger," Physical Education Teacher Jamie Parish said.
Physical Education Teacher Jamie Parish says research also shows physical education classes help students in other classes.
"Physical activity helps you with your mental comprehension and with learning in general," Parish said.
Just like Math or English, Parish hopes the skills they learn here will stick with them for the rest of their life.
"Things kids can do away from the building when they graduate, things they'll use for their entire life," Parish said.
While Parish is thankful for the changes, he says more progress still needs to be made.
"In Illinois I believe it is they have mandated gym class every day. They've started to see some of the benefits with their test scores and that type of information. That would be fantastic if that was something we could progress towards," Parish said.
No comments :
Post a Comment