John Boyle
Mon, 11 Oct 2004 13:20:23 -0700
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The article here mentions Charles Schmitt, an LCI instructor whom I
graduated with. Mr. Schmitt has been implementing bicycle education in the Neshaminy District and no doubt this grant will help
advance that along. By NAOMI L. JENKINS Bucks County Courier Times Neshaminy - The Neshaminy School District recently won $241,390 to improve
and expand its physical education program, making students more active in the
effort to fight obesity. The money will be used to upgrade physical education equipment, train
teachers, hire an outside agency to assess the program, and start a nutrition
and weight-loss program called KidShape for children
in the Neshaminy community. The district's grant application outlined the "Active, Healthy
Kids Program" Neshaminy would implement with the
funds. School districts and nonprofit agencies in each state could apply for
the competitive Carol M.
White Physical Education Program Grant. Neshaminy
was the only Bucks district to win it this year. Awards ranged from $100,000 to $500,000 and run from 12 through 36
months. The purpose of the grant is to help more students meet state physical
education standards, according to the U.S. Department of Education Web site. But Charles Schmidt, lead teacher for health and physical education in Neshaminy, said he hoped it would enable more students to
learn to have an active lifestyle and eat right. Schmidt worked alongside the staff at St. Mary Medical Center to write
the grant. The hospital's nutrition and community health services staff will
run KidShape when it is launched months from now. Schmidt and Terry Rivera, of the hospital's community health services
department, are still working out the details of implementing the Active,
Healthy Kids Program. Schmidt will attend an informational conference for grant
recipients in November. "We are just absolutely thrilled. I think this is such a great
thing for Neshaminy. We realize this issue of obesity
is an epidemic, so we at St. Mary have been involved," said Rivera. Schmidt said the district has no official statistics on the number of
obese children it serves but knows it's an issue. "We haven't done a formal thing, but we've eyeballed it. Our
eyeball estimate is 15 to 20 percent of the kids," Schmidt said. Students may not notice a difference next school year when the grant is
implemented. Schmidt said much of the money would be used to buy equipment to
make physical education classes in the 14 schools more consistent. Some schools have better bikes, in-line skates and fitness centers than
others do. "This will enable us to be more consistent through all of our
buildings," Schmidt said. The KidShape program will be open to all
children living in the Neshaminy district, whether
they attend public or private schools. Preference will go toward students who
are very overweight and inactive. KidShape is a national curriculum
that motivates students to perform fun activities, stay fit, and teaches them
about nutrition. "This is just a program that will help kids get physically active
in a fun environment that's non-threatening," Rivera said. "It could
be in a large meeting room. We want kids to realize they should be running and
playing. This really won't be geared to the athletic child." In a separate grant, Neshaminy's Lower
Southampton Elementary School won federal funding through the Fresh Fruit and
Vegetable Program to help kids eat more healthy foods. Money from the grant is used to buy local fresh fruits and vegetables
to feed to children. Award amounts won't be confirmed until the end of the
month, said Bethany Yenner, a spokeswoman for the
Pennsylvania Department of Education. Twenty-five Pennsylvania schools won the grant, aimed at fighting
childhood obesity. Naomi Jenkins can be reached at 215-949-4190 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] October 11, 2004 4:47 AM |