by Ann M. Colford

Remember PE class? Unless you were one of the top athletes in the class, your memories are not likely to be pleasant ones. In Spokane Public Schools, teachers and administrators are trying to change the image of physical education classes and lay the foundation for lifelong health and fitness.

"PE is trying to reinvent itself," says Karen Cowan, who serves as the district's K-12 fitness and health coordinator and the K-12 activities coordinator. "It's been proven through time that we weren't effective with traditional PE classes, so now we keep the students highly engaged in activities with fun, motivating fitness equipment."

The change in philosophy begins with the name — no longer Physical Education, the program is now called Fitness and Health, with a focus on individualized fitness goals. Health information is now integrated into the K-12 curriculum

"Instead of just getting them to run, we tell them why it's important to run," she explains. "The goal is to teach them what they need to know to keep active throughout life. We go through basic anatomy and physiology, we explain how the heart works. We have a program that starts in first grade, as soon as we see the kids. It needs to be persistent, consistent and individualized to build healthy habits."

The program to retool PE for the new century was funded by grant money for two years, but now Cowan is struggling to continue its implementation without the extra funds. Not only have the grant funds diminished, but the latest round of budget cuts eliminated most after-school sports programs at the elementary level, she says, making exercise even harder for kids to get.

"With the budget constraints, there wasn't a lot of choice of what to cut," she says. "But the PE staff was highly alarmed. We saw 10,000 kids in that program, and the point is that they were coming out for an hour of physical activity four days a week."

With about half of the district's students qualifying for free or reduced-price school lunches, many families can't afford private recreation programs as a substitute. "Many of our parents don't have the resources [to pay for recreation], and they depend on the school system to provide it."

Currently, elementary school students get two half-hour sessions of fitness and health education per week. If she could change one thing in the current program, Cowan says she'd like more time to work with each child.

"We have a good program, but we need support to finish building the curriculum, getting new equipment and providing training for our teachers," she says. "The long-term health of our kids needs to be a priority of the school district. Academics are important, but without a sound body, you can't have a sound mind."

Publication date: 11/20/03