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wall stood on the side of the gym, an imposing figure for
the students at Coralville Central Elementary.
Kelsey
Schmitt, 9, a fourth-grader, took ahold of the grips along
the wall and made her way sideways, sidestepping the “electric
fences” that physical education teacher Karen Callaway
had installed as added obstacles. Shimmying through them,
she made it through fairly easily.
“(Callaway) challenges us just enough so we get through.
We learn to be more brave,” Kelsey said.
The traverse wall® is one of the several innovations schools
and physical education teachers in the Iowa City School District
are employing to keep students active and away from a lifetime
of inactivity and obesity. Nationwide, about 17 percent of children
younger than 18 are considered overweight or obese, according
to the U.S. Surgeon General. The condition generally has been
caused by a lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits
as society as a whole has become more inactive as young people
play more video and computer games and watch more television,
according to the Surgeon General’s office. Overweight and
obese children and adolescents tend to have a higher risk for
heart disease and diabetes, the office said.
While there are no solid figures on how fit students are in
Iowa City Schools, children in the area are in relatively good
shape, said Jan Grenko Lehman, Wood Elementary physical education
teacher and coordinator of physical education for the district.
“Of course, you’d like it not to be a problem at
all, but there is a small percentage” who are not fit,
she said. “Our plan is to stay ahead of it and implement
some things so it doesn’t become an epidemic.”
This includes having the students play games in physical education
class and providing venues to work out before and after school.
Several elementaries, such as Hoover and Longfellow have running
clubs, while schools like Wood Elementary have a jump rope club.
During the recent renovations at City High, a cardiovascular
room, complete with stationary bikes and treadmills, was installed,
using money from a federal physical education grant, Grenko Lehman
said.
“Different
schools will have different activities to keep kids active,” she
said. |
 |
 The
federal grant also helped buy the computer software that
district teachers will use to conduct fitness tests of students.
The tests will examine students’ cardiovascular health,
as well as flexibility, upper body strength and body mass index
- one of the key components in determining if a person is obese.
Parents then will receive the reports during upcoming parent-teacher
conferences or in the year-end report in May, Grenko Lehman said.
“The physical education staff is looking at how we can
make a difference,” she said.
The effort includes a traverse wall® at Coralville Central Elementary.
Purchased for about $9,000, the wall was installed in the school’s
new gymnasium when it opened in January 2006. Students can climb
up and across the wall, working around obstacles.
“It seemed like a cool thing to have,” P.E. teacher
Karen Callaway said. “You can work on strength and flexibility.”
The wall has proven to be a hit among Coralville Central students,
who clamor and line up for good chances to climb it.
“It’s fun and it’s hard,” said Matt
Birely, 9, a fourth-grader. “I think we have some good
accessories that help with flexibility. I think the challenges
are the best part.”
Grenko Lehman said there are plans to install a climbing wall
at another undisclosed elementary school later this year. She
also said the district and community can come forward with more
ways to keep youth physically active, including building new
gymnasiums at schools. Currently, nine of the district’s
18 elementaries have single multi-purpose rooms that double as
gymnasiums and lunchrooms, curtailing exercise opportunities
for students. Grenko Lehman said the new gyms at schools like
Coralville Central and Van Allen elementaries are helping more
students get their exercise.
“When you add that, you get kids more chances to move,” she
said. “I think (building a new gym is) a vision for each
building because they know it’s important.”
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