Even P.E. gets a high-tech boost

In schools, few subjects haven't felt technology's impacts.

Math classes were transformed by the slide rule, then the calculator, then the graphing calculator.

Students have moved from writing reports in theme books to typing them on typewriters to e-mailing Word documents to their teachers. Research no longer is relegated to the library; instead, students can find their resources on the Internet or the school's electronic library.

Physical education has been less affected than other classes. With the exception of the vibrating-belt machines of the 1950s, there is no replacement for actual physical exertion.

But even P.E. is more high-tech than it was in the not-too-distant past.

Students have an entire P.E. unit devoted to working out on cardiovascular and weight machines at Evergreen Junior High School.

The school has a treadmill, elliptical machine, stair climbers and upright exercise bikes. There are two weight machines, as well as free weights and a bench. The school also has heart monitors, a couple of punching bags and a $9,000 climbing wall in the gym.

"This is one of the nicest facilities" in the valley, P.E. teacher Ross Darner said. "Especially for a junior high."

Darner and fellow P.E. teacher Patti Fleming helped the school acquire the equipment. Fleming helped Evergreen secure the original $93,600 Physical Education Program grant that enabled the school to purchase its first machines about four years ago.

Since then, the school has received an additional $20,000 in grants, Darner said.

Some of that money went toward computerized equipment that measures students' weight, blood pressure, body fat, heart rate, flexibility and upper-body strength. Students can create their own fitness programs, Fleming said, and keep track of their progress.

"They actually get to see the results," she said. "If, say, a kid has a weight issue, they can keep track of their progress and see that they're getting results through exercise and nutrition."

Teachers also can print the information for the students or their parents, she added.

"We've got some high-tech equipment for sure," she said.

Students use the equipment year-round. Darner runs an after-school fitness program and a summer camp, both of which are free and open to all Evergreen Junior High students, Fleming said.

"They love it," she said.

Having the equipment and the programs "has opened eyes all around," she added. Students are learning fitness is a lifestyle and are developing a "lifelong look at personal health."

That new perspective represents a shift in the way Evergreen and other schools approach physical education, she said.

"It used to be all so skill-based," she said. "We've changed to looking down the road, things you can do to keep yourself healthy. With the obesity problem and type 2 diabetes, we're making kids aware of that now, and what they can do to prevent it."

This includes making sure youths are active during recess as well as in P.E. class, she said.

"We want to keep the kids from being sedentary. They do enough of that at home as it is," she said.

"We used to play outside all the time when we were kids. They don't do that anymore."

Having fitness machines available for student use encourages kids to be more active, Darner said.

"Kids don't want to just run," he said.

But the equipment isn't imperative, Susan Stephens said.

Stephens has taught physical education at Swan River School for 12 years. Her first-, second- and third-grade students work on basic motor development and movements that will strengthen their core muscles. Jumping rope is one of her favorite activities.

"Even with that, there's no technology there," she said. "You just need a rope."

She does occasionally play music for her students - and that, she said, is the extent to which technology has impacted her role as a P.E. teacher.

"I sometimes play music for them during their warm-ups," she said. "They run to music, or I make them do kind of funny movements to the music. I play music a lot during jump-rope stuff.

"Otherwise, they make enough music and noise themselves."

Evergreen students often run to music, Fleming said.

"We've done research," she said. "When music is involved, they run longer and they run faster. When there's no noise, they drop out."

Once the students have run their warm-up laps, they move on to the day's activity. During the winter, when they can't go outside, they will spend several weeks on the machines.

"The sixth-graders will do about three weeks. The older kids will be up there longer," Darner said.

"At this age, they get bored with it," he added, pointing to his sixth-grade students. "They'd rather play games."

But technology even plays a role in their games, Fleming said. Fourth-grade students at East Evergreen Elementary learn to use heart monitors so by the time they reach the junior high, they're familiar with the devices.

Junior high students often wear heart monitors when they play games in P.E., she explained.

"We sometimes keep track of games not by score but what team is in their [target] heart-rate zone longest," she said. "It helps engage kids who might not want to compete."

Those are the students who might not score goals but who can still contribute by keeping their heart rate up, she said. "It encourages kids to be more active instead of standing around watching."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com