P.E. revolution

TCU Magazine

Impressive results are in on the six-year revamping of the Fort Worth school district’s physical education program, a cooperative effort with TCU that began in 2004 with the installation of climbing walls and PE equipment in every elementary and middle school in the district (see The TCU Magazine, spring 2005).

When complete, about $1.7 million in grants, co-written by school district PE program Director Georgi Roberts and kinesiology Professor Debbie Rhea, will revitalize a district-wide physical education curriculum in which students actually clamor to participate. The plan includes equipment and teacher training to help them implement five state-recommended courses.

The latest grant is putting fitness centers in all of the district’s 13 high schools. The rooms will include stationary bikes, elliptical machines, weights, aerobic steps, physio balls and a sound system.

About half of the schools already have the centers, and the others are in various stages. An additional grant from the Sid Richardson Foundation provided PE uniforms, which the students helped choose.

Particularly popular is the Dance Dance Revolution game. Participants stand in front of a video screen on a pad with arrows that correspond to arrows on the screen. The player steps on the arrows indicated on the screen, which are synchronized to the beat of a song.

Each fitness center also has a TriFit machine that measures bicep strength, weight, body fat, flexibility, blood pressure and pulse. The machine records a student’s profile and tracks fitness over time.

Next year, outdoor ropes courses will be installed to help teach the Adventure/Outdoor Education course. Rhea and Roberts have just applied for another three-year grant to help fund the other three suggested courses.

The curriculum is more about teaching children to enjoy being active for life than it is about teaching team sports, Rhea said. And equipment like heart rate monitors and the TriFit machine give teachers a concrete way of grading how hard a student is working for his or her own fitness level.