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Wyoming Association

For Health, Physical Education,

Recreation, and Dance

Communicator

March 2017 Volume 28 Issue 1

2016 WAHPERD Executive Board

President, Jim Gardner, Cheyenne

President Elect, Deb Stephenson,

Rock Springs

Past President, Don Brinkman,

Cheyenne

Adapted Physical Education

VP, Heather Anderson, Rock

Springs

VP Elect, Randy Siltzer, Cheyenne

Dance

VP, Mathew Gardner, Rock Springs

VP Elect, Jeff Wordeman,

Cheyenne

Health

VP, Tina Vondra, Casper

VP Elect, Helen Grutkowski,

Sheridan

Physical Education

VP,

VP Elect, Charli Fluty, Powell

Recreation

VP, Cheri Grutkowski, Casper

VP Elect, Shawna McIlnay, Gillette

Executive Director (ex-officio),

Nancy Raso Eklund, Green River

Treasurer (ex-officio), Todd

Dulaney, Rock Springs

Secretary (ex-officio), Tiffany

Turner, Green River

WAHPERD

Mission Statement and Goals

The Wyoming Alliance is committed to providing assistance

and support while empowering its membership to initiate,

develop, and conduct programs in educating the public about

the benefits of an active healthy lifestyle. Following are the

goals of the Wyoming Alliance: (1) To provide professional

growth and development services; (2) To increase association

membership and involvement at all levels, student,

professional, and retiree; (3) To promote mandatory quality

daily physical education; (4) To improve, expand, and

advocate communication and services to the membership and

public; and (5) To serve as a resource in curriculum

development and implementation at state and local levels.

2017 WAHPERD Convention

Convention Theme: Great Teachers and

Coaches – Striving to be Great at Both!

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Laramie County Community College

November 5-7

2017

Convention Registration

Early Bird $120.00 (before 10/1/17)

Students & Retirees $50.00

On Site $150.00

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MESSAGE FROM DON BRINKMAN, WAHPERD PAST PRESIDENT

Braden Kreft

Dec 1, 2014

Take A Hike

Determination as a river flows

Bending to gravity and the like

There's no knowing how far it goes

That is, unless you take the hike

Dear WAHPERD Members,

This past year has been a new adventure for me; some might consider it my favorite hike in the

education world. Thank you to those who were able to attend the convention in Gillette, those

there in spirit, and those five ladies who did so much to make it a success! The State of

Wyoming faces a difficult hike over the next several years. As members we need to continue to

advocate for our staff development opportunities, we need to continue to get students up and

moving, and we need to take care of ourselves as we face these new hurdles. I am not certain of

what the future holds for me and that of education in the State of Wyoming. But I do know for

sure that I will be all in on this hike ahead and I invite you to join in to tackle one step at a time.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Brinkman

WAHPERD Past President

2017 WAHPERD Convention

Cheyenne, Wyoming

November 5th – 7th

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MESSAGE FROM DEB STEPHENSON, WAHPERD President Elect - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

Greetings WAHPERD friends,

My name is Deb Stephenson and I am beyond excited to be serving as your new President-elect

for WAHPERD. While I am fairly new to the state of Wyoming, I feel as though I have been a

part of WAHPERD much longer than I have lived here. I was fortunate that for the last several

years I was asked to present at the state convention even though I did not live here and then have

most recently been serving as your SHAPE America Central District President.

For those of you who do not know me, please allow me to introduce myself. I hale from the state

of Iowa where I was very active in IAHPERD and taught mostly Physical Education and dance,

but over the years I also taught health. In addition, I have had the privilege of teaching and

coaching an award winning dance team. Dance is my passion and I have been blessed to teach to

educators all over the United States.

Currently, I live in Rock Springs where I teach 5th and 6th grade physical education and health.

My biggest accomplishment is as the mother of two amazing daughters Lyndsey and Danielle.

Dani is an athletic trainer and lives in Columbia, South Carolina, and Lyndsey is a second grade

teacher living in Granger, Iowa. Both girls are married and Lyndsey is also the mother of my

beautiful granddaughter Dyllan. Dyllan warms Grandma’s heart and makes me smile daily.

I look forward to serving you for the next three years. We are already moving forward with some

exciting new and continuing adventures for WAHPERD. Each day I learn more about our great

state and would like to get to know all of you too. If you have a special passion, a burning idea

or just want to be involved, please email me or one of the other Presidents with your ideas.

Sincerely,

Deb Stephenson

WAHPERD President Elect

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

Ka Mate Haka, Dance VP Elect, Jeff Wordeman, Cheyenne - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - Dancing has never been something I have been comfortable with due to a lack of ability to count

beats, as well as staying on rhythm to those beats. However, during my time at the University of

Wyoming (UW) in the Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) program, I learned how to count

beats and effectively teach dance. While in the movement cores, I learned how to teach a variety of

dances that not only helped me in counting beats, but also helped me feel more comfortable dancing in

front of others. Feeling comfortable dancing in front of others is important if I am to teach dance as a

Physical Educator.

During one movement core, I learned the haka (generic term for Maori dance) Ka Mate which is said

to have been created by Ngati Toa Chieftain Te Rauparaha. The Ka Mate is a celebration of life over

death and tells the story of Te Rauparaha being saved by the “hairy man,” chief Te Wharerangi from two

enemy tribes who were chasing Te Rauparaha (Archer, 2008). The Ka Mate also explains how Chief Te

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Rauparaha wonders if he will die (ka mate!) or if he will live (ka ora!). It goes on to explain how the

“hairy man” brought the sun and caused it to shine.

Over the next several years, the Ka Mate became a morale booster for those facing the flood of

British settlers in the New Zealand area (Archer, 2008). Since the late 1800’s, New Zealand rugby has

been more closely associated with the Ka Mate haka dating back to 1888, and the All Blacks as early as

1905 (New Zealand Rugby, n.d.). The Ka Mate haka is now performed prior to every rugby match the

All Blacks play as an act of defiance, and a show of solidarity, comradery, as well as no fear towards the

opposing teams.

This dance intrigued me from the first time I learned it because of what it means for those players and

how they use it to show the opposing teams they are not afraid. The movements are aggressive, yet sharp.

When performed in a group, it can send chills down a person’s back. I wanted to teach this dance to my

students because of how the Ka Mate brings its performers together as one.

For the last two years, I have taught the Ka Mate to my Kindergarten through 8th grade classes as a

fun, end of unit dance activity. In the 2015/2016 school year, I had the entire student body perform the

dance prior to our Students vs. Staff basketball game. For this year’s performance, I chose to only have

the 3rd grade through 8th grade perform the dance due to it being a little crowded and overwhelming for

the younger students. On each occasion, students were excited to perform the dance and had a great time

doing so. I also put a few 8th grade students in charge of being the dance leaders to assist the younger

students.

What is great about teaching Ka Mate is that the most difficult characteristic of the dance is

memorizing seven sections of words and going through the entire dance two times. Another great aspect

about teaching the Ka Mate is that performers create the music beat by slapping their thighs to the

leader’s rhythm. As a result, the leader gets to choose how fast or slow their group will perform the

dance. The movements were easy for kindergarten students to learn and a lot of fun for the 8th grade

students to perform due to how aggressive the movements are.

When asked what students liked about the Ka Mate, one student said the story was very interesting

and she loved that she got to learn about a different culture. Another student said she was a little

embarrassed at first, but had a lot of fun by the end because it was not a difficult dance to mess up. One

teacher stated she felt the dance helped boost the morale of the student body because they were excited

and motivated to perform well prior to the basketball game. She also said she thought that it was a good

unit, because it included researching and learning about the people who began this dance. It let the kids

have fun and learn about working and playing as a team.

For my future classes, I will continue teaching the same version of the Ka Mate, but I will also teach

other versions so students can see there is more than one haka out there. Another idea is to have classes,

at least 5th & 6th grade, create their own versions of a haka to perform in front of their peers. Including the

Ka Mate haka in the dance unit has boosted morale, increased knowledge about other dance cultures, and

created a fun dance environment. It is definitely something for educators to consider including in future

lessons.

References Archer, J. (2008, September). Te Rauparaha's use of Kikiki. Retrieved from New Zealand Folk Song:

http://www.folksong.org.nz/kikiki/indexTeRaAdults.html

New Zealand Rugby. (n.d.). The Haka. Retrieved from All Blacks: http://allblacks.com/Teams/Haka

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A Message from your Executive Director, Nancy Raso Eklund

Dear WAHPERD,

As an avid and voracious reader I tend to lean to my favorite genre -- espionage and thrillers-- but I

wanted to share what is on my current bookshelf—and feel free to share what is on your list!

Wooden (Thank You President Gardner) by Coach John Wooden with reflections (foreward) with an

impressive list of Bill Walsh, Bill Walton, Denny Crum, Kareem Abdul Jabarr & Bob Costas. I am just

starting to turn the pages of this iconic player/coach but looking forward to more!

Becoming a Leader of Character: Six Habits That Make Or Break A Leader At Work and at Home--by

General James Anderson and son with a forward by Coach K— (Thank YOU Dr. Dennis Docheff). Of

the 6 habits, Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty and Positivity, I have had a profound

realization of family and teaching are core to my being! Filled with nuggets of wisdom, this book

reminds you “to do what you want to become”.

Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life by Mihaly Csujszentmihalyi (Thank

You Brad Strand former AAHPERD President and CD President) Brad introduced this book to me over

20 years ago-- Csikszentmihalyi defines "flow" as the feeling of effortlessness of action we experience at

the best moments in our lives. People in flow are completely focused; self-consciousness and the

awareness of time give way to full immersion in the moment. Flow stretches our abilities without

overtaxing them. Most often people have "flow experiences" when they engage in their favorite activities,

whether playing or working. It is not a step by step approach or a self-help book for the masses--it

reminds us intelligently, that complaining such as “I don’t have time” is a common excuse for not taking

control of our lives. It also tells us something we have often heard, but love to forget: flow comes when

we have goals!

The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson — (Thank You Allen Edwards UW Basketball Coach) The Slight Edge

caught my eye in the Casper Tribune in an article when Coach Edwards took the helm at UW Men’s

basketball. I was impressed with his “book study” for the team as part the camaraderie of team building.

The book is an easy read and reminds us that success is achieved by repeating small disciplines and

starting with small but bigger steps along the way. Jason McManamen said, “the biggest thing I took

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away is how important the little things are that you do every day”. The Slight Edge directs one how to

create powerful results from the simple daily activities of your life—with the skills you already have.

The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success by Andy Andrews---(Thank You

dear daughter, Lauren Eklund) I had started this book years ago and when Lauren, my daughter, shared

what the book imparted on her, I just had to finish.

The book infuses self-help with fiction. The main character, David Conder, finds his life to be in a major

crisis by the time he is middle aged, and has lost his well-paying job. Knowing he would not find a job at

his past salary he finally finds a job with a hardware story as a clerk. After receiving a call at work about

his daughters upcoming hospital stay he becomes unsure on how he can manage. His boss is standing by

him when he hangs up, and explains to David he can pick up his final check for taking personal calls at

work. Broken hearted and not knowing what to do, he drives around hoping to get his thoughts together.

He isn't focusing on his driving and loses control and crashes his car on an iced covered bridge. While in

a coma, he is transformed into history and gets a message written as a letter from all-time greats like

President Lincoln, Harry Truman, Albert Einstein, Anne Frank, Christopher Columbus, King Solomon,

each of whom imparts one of the seven key decisions that the author asserts are essential for personal

success. The travels through time cover seven rules of life that David, including us, should follow.

And FINALLY, I had the good fortune to attend a training and listen to Simon Sinek! An

optimist and author! He shared that ALL organizations on the planet, even our own WAHPERD, as well

as our careers, function on three levels: (a) What we do, (b) How we do it, and (c) Why we do it.

When those three pieces are aligned, it gives us a filter through which to make decisions.

It provides a foundation for innovation andfor building trust. When all three pieces are in balance--

others will say, with absolute clarity and certainty---“We know who you are,” “We know what you stand

for.”

Everyone has a “WHY”—think about your WHY! It is your purpose, cause or your belief that inspires

you to do what you do. While we, teachers, put in hours beyond measure it is certainly leaves us with that

feeling of waking up each day to feed our passion. Isn’t a job great when we really don’t feel like it is a

‘job’. As I round out my 42nd year, I am truly fulfilled. Always felt valued with the many administrators

and coworkers in School District Number Two as well as my WAHPERD family for almost as many of

the 42 years in Green River. Passion!

If you are questioning your reach—find your WHY! BE INSPIRED! Look in the mirror and be inspired.

YOU are the ultimate professional!

“Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really

are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” John Wooden.

“If we want to grow in our practice, we have two primary places to go: to the inner ground from which good teaching comes and to

the community of fellow teachers from whom we can learn more about ourselves and our craft…The resources we need in order to

grow as teachers are abundant within the community of colleagues. Good talk about good teaching is what we need—to enhance

both our professional practice and the selfhood from which it comes.” The Courage to Teach, Parker Palmer

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Advocacy—What IS IN YOUR Toolbox?

Nancy Raso Eklund, WAHPERD Advocacy Chair

Jump on the Advocacy Bandwagon! Listed are resources for you to access. They are no cost

and will help in advocating your program. Please peruse through the resources. Contact me

nancyrasoeklund@gmail.com for any assistance on these or other resources! If you are needing

resources for justifying your district/building PE Program, SHAPE America has Wyoming data

laid out for you. The complete list of advocacy is noted below.

State Advocacy Resources For starters—WAHPERD’s own webpage—great resources with information for you—the MEMBER

http://www.wyomingahperd.com/index.html

Facebook: Wyoming Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance

Twitter: @AHPERDWYOMING or @nancyeklund

And follow WAHPERD member in Sheridan-- Darin Gilbertson @coachgilby

Wyoming Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports http://www.wyomingfitnesscouncil.org/

If you are interested in serving the council please contact Tatum: tatum.soto@wyo.gov

http://portal.shapeamerica.org/advocacy/State-Toolkits/Wyoming_Toolkit.aspx

PRESS ROOM News 2016 Press Releases Press Information 50 Million Strong by 2029 ADVOCACY Legislative Action Center Every Student Succeeds Act Federal Legislative Agenda SPEAK Out! Day State Advocacy Resources Shape of the Nation POSITION STATEMENTS School Health Physical Education Sport Coaching Physical Activity

Joint Projects—Jump Rope for Heart and Hoops for Heart

http://portal.shapeamerica.org/jump

https://www.fueluptoplay60.com/ The NFL, through Fuel Up to Play 60, and our Western Dairy Association provided $10,000 per NFL Club team in grant money to help school districts or individual schools improve their nutrition and physical activity initiatives. Your school can apply for funding up to $4000.00 per school year for developing NUTRITION PLAYS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PLAYS

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Let’s Move Active Schools

https://myactiveschool.letsmoveschools.org/loginregister/

There are many opportunities for grants and funding for LMAS

PYFP—President’s Youth Fitness Program ALL NEW and FREE: pyfp.org/

Free fitness, health and wellness program for kids from Sanford Health

http://www.sanfordhealth.org/health-information/childrens-health-library/fit-kids

http://fit.webmd.com/kids/food/videos/default.htm

Go Noodle https://www.gonoodle.com/

The BEST—Check it out for your classroom

teachers

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WalMart Community Grant – An Opportunity - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

Dear WAHPERD Members,

Greetings 👋🏼and rest assured..... SPRING is set to begin in two weeks. I am sure we would

certainly all welcome Spring to come in sooner. 🌷🌻

Per President Gardner's request at the last board meeting here is the link to the WalMart

Community grant (end of this email). At the bottom of the WalMart page it allows you to click

on "apply here" to move forward with the application.

If you live in a community with a WalMart or one near you this grant has a $2500.00 cap and

can be used for staff development or projects for a 501c3 groups such as WAHPERD.

Sweetwater District 1 wrote one for assistance to attend WAHPERD conferences and they were

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successful in receiving funds. It does take time for processing, so do allow 8-12 weeks. Our

conference dates are November 5-7, 2017 in Cheyenne. Here is a link to submit if you intend to

present and to share with your colleagues to share. It is also on the WAHPERD website.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScicvbLgZo3_MWqnoCPVLp5gOv89-PQfLK-

ia8lRExdxyiXvg/viewform

http://giving.walmart.com/walmart-foundation/community-grant-program

Enjoy another great week of teaching and learning. Be Well.

Nancy Raso Eklund

WAHPERD Executive Director

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Health Education, Health VP Elect, Helen Grutkowski, Sheridan - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

Differentiated Learning Plan for a Gifted and Talented Student

Last semester I asked a student in my class to investigate the accuracy of an original HIV activity

that I had been using for 10 years. As part of an enrichment project, I asked him (with the help

of his dad who is an epidemiologist) to rewrite this activity and implement all the updated

medications and treatments being used at this time. The finished product gave a deeper

understanding and meaning of the "big picture" of being a HIV infected person.

Anyone wishing to use this activity as a part of a HIV lesson is more than welcome.

ACTIVITY: BOB’S LETTER

Instructions: Hand out 5 small blank cards to each student. On card #1 list the profession you

would like to be in sometime in the next 10 years and how much money you will make per

year. On card #2, list the person(s) you are closest to. On card #3, write down your favorite

activity or hobby. On card #4, write down something you’ve always wanted to do. On card #5,

write the name of a person you would like to make amends to or someone you need to spend

more time with. Rank these cards from least important to most important to you. Put your heads

down and listen to my story.

NOW BEGIN READING THE STORY:

Everything is right with you. You have a good job and life could not be better. You have just

come down with the flu, but it goes away after three days. You find yourself getting tired easily

so you decide to go to the doctor. He/she can’t find anything wrong with you and tells you that

you have been working too hard and you need some time off.

GIVE UP YOUR LEAST IMPORTANT CARD:

After a couple of weeks off, you feel much better and return to work. But, soon you start feeling

tired again and begin to have some night sweats. You go back to your doctor and he/she does a

blood test. He/she notifies you that the results of the test show that you are HIV+. The

physician then immediately orders additional CD4 count and viral load tests to determine the

extent of the infection.

GIVE UP YOU NEXT LEAST IMPORTANT CARD:

You feel devastated, but your doctor tells you not to give up--it has not yet turned into AIDS and

he/she tells you that AIDS may not set in for many years. Treatment is started as soon as test

results are back, regardless of the stage of the disease, and lab tests are checked regularly. You

continue to work and you seem to get better. Your condition goes on for a few

years. Everything is going okay, but all of a sudden you develop pneumonia and some brown

spots appear on your skin. Your doctor tells you that AIDS has set in.

GIVE UP YOUR NEXT LEAST IMPORTANT CARD:

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Your Highly Active Antiretrovrial Therapy is costly, but has only minor side effects and can

extend your life for many years, possibly even to the length of an average lifespan. Your disease

is not life-threatening at this point and there is no pain. After several years of treatment, your T4

cell count starts to go down. You are also having trouble remembering anything and after a short

time you are admitted to the hospital.

GIVE UP YOUR 4TH CARD:

The lights are now dim in your hospital room. You have lost 40 pounds. You cannot take

anything oral because your throat is so irritated it is next to impossible to swallow. You are fed

by tubes. Your doctor says that you have cytomegalovirus and the pneumonia has come back.

GIVE UP YOUR LAST CARD:

You find yourself alone. You have no possessions. No one comes to see you (that you know

of). You are on so much medication that you are not really aware of what is going on around

you. The nurse turns off your light for the last time.

YOU HAVE JUST BEEN THROUGH WHAT A TYPICAL AIDS VICTIM MAY GO

THROUGH FROM THE TIME OF INFECTION UNTIL DEATH.

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Jump Rope for Heart, Briana Fuller, WY JRFH/HFH State Coordinator - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

Jumping Across Wyoming

Greetings from the great state of Wyoming! My name is Briana Fuller and I am the Jump and

Hoops State Coordinator for Wyoming! Jump Rope For Heart has always held a special place in

my heart. I have been involved in some way since I was six years old. Not only did I participate

in these events as a child, I had the amazing experience of being part of a traveling jump rope

team called the JE Jumpers. As I got older JRFH & HFH journeyed with me and is still by my

side as I teach PE and Health to K-4th grade students in my small town. Through this blog, I

want to share with you some of the wonderful things happening in our state to support this great

cause and provide some inspiration to help guide your own JRFH journey!

JRFH/ HFH Event Ideas from around the State

If you are anything like me, event ideas are always welcome! Putting on an event may seem

stressful and turns some teacher away from helping our great cause. Feeling hesitant? No

worries, I am here to help and share some ideas that have worked for our coordinators over the

last several years.

Tailor your event to you & your school: Make it a school-wide event or a

community-wide affair

Sweetwater County School District #1 puts on an all-district culminating event. Each elementary

school takes part in Jump Rope For Heart and in March all of the schools come together for an

event at the high school. They have college athletes come in to participate with the students and

do all kinds of different activities! In Sweetwater County School District #2 all of the schools

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participate in Jump or Hoops For Heart and put on their own events. Most use their class time

and have a day where the students get to participate in some fun different activities related to

either jump rope or basketball.

Include other staff & administration in the fun!

At Harrison Elementary where I teach we have a day where each grade level participates in

different stations for an hour. All of the “specials” teachers which includes the PE teacher,

music teacher, art teacher, technology teacher and our media/science teacher get together and run

different stations throughout the day. It is a fun filled day for the students to enjoy something

fun and different to celebrate their hard work and participation in Jump Rope for Heart. I have

found that working with my colleagues to put this event on is great fun and the students love

it! Finding a big space and volunteers to do an event after school has been a struggle where I

teach, so changing it up and doing it during the day has been great!

Hold a “thank you” event for your students

I have one last event that I would like to highlight. In Laramie County School District #1 which

is located in our capital city of Cheyenne we have a teacher that has been doing Jump Rope For

Heart for 32 years. Every year Jim Gardner takes one evening to put on a culminating event for

all of his students that took part in Jump Rope For Heart. I was lucky enough to be a participant

in this when I went to elementary school there! The event takes place at Story Gymnasium

which is used for all the rivalry basketball games in town. The event lasts an hour and a half and

he goes through different tricks with the kids, does some long and short rope activities and even

does some double dutch. All students that come get a raffle ticket for a door prize and usually

leave with something fun!

Other ways to get involved

Last February, WAHPERD started a “Heart Trivia” contest for all of our members. Each week

during Heart Month we e-mailed out a collection of trivia questions and at the end of the month

gave prizes to the winners. It was a great way to engage our members and promote the programs.

Get ready WY, we plan to do this again this year!

Calling all students! WAHPERD offers one graduate credit to anyone who puts on a Jump or

Hoops event. For teachers who need graduate credits this is a great opportunity because they get

a credit for only $50!

The information above is only a small example of the many great events & ideas that take place

in Wyoming! Please reach out if you would like more information or ideas! My email address is

fullerb@swcsd2.org.

I hope you all have a great Heart Month!

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APE, Adapted Physical Education VP, Heather Anderson, Rock Springs

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Movement Skills – Hopping and Jumping for Grade 1 (one on one)

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Background Information: Student is highly autistic and will not hop when instructed. Student

has gravitational insecurities when weight bearing with one foot on the gym floor. However,

when student is on the individual trampoline he is motivated to hop with maximum assistance.

Objectives:

1. The student will demonstrate warm up (jogging) and stretching activities in personal space

(using poly spot) when instructed by the teacher. Evaluation will take place based on a Yes

or No format looking at participation.

2. The student will demonstrate balancing (on each foot) in personal space (using poly spot)

when instructed by the teacher. Evaluation will take place based on the number of seconds

student can hold the balance completing three trials.

3. The student will perform components of hopping (one foot) on individual trampoline when

directed by the teacher. Evaluation will take place based on the number of consecutive hops

in a row using both right and left foot. Evaluation will also include the amount of assistance

is needed to complete task. Maximum assistance (teacher holds hand and opposite knee up of

the student) or minimal assistance (teacher holds hand of student)

Space/Materials/Equipment:

1. Gym

2. 1 poly spot

3. Individual trampoline

Introduction Time/Focus, Lesson Focus, Cues:

Warm up/Stretching

10 min – The teacher picks up the student at classroom door and walks to gym together. Student

will jog three laps around gym and walks one lap. Student will find poly spot and sit down on

spot.

Cues: Sit down (with sign language), Freeze (hands on knees), Stay on spot

Balancing (on both legs)

5 min – After teacher describes and demonstrates what we will be doing, the student will

demonstrate balancing. One foot as base of support and other with knee up. Arms up to make

“T” for balance. Teacher counts the number of seconds student can hold balance. Completes

three trails.

Balancing= one foot as base of support and other with knee lifted up

Cues: Stand (with sign language), Arms up (demonstrating “T”), knee up

Hopping

6 min – After teacher describes and demonstrates what student will be doing, the student will

demonstrate hopping on individual trampoline. One foot as base of support and other with knee

up. Student holding both hands of student for support. Teacher assists in holding students knee

up and counts the number of consecutive hops student can demonstrate. Completes three trails.

Hopping= one foot take off, same foot landing

Cues: One foot, knee up, hop

Jumping

4 min - After teacher describes and demonstrates what student will be doing, the student will

demonstrate jumping on individual trampoline. Free time for jumping.

Jumping= two foot take off, two foot landing

15

Cues: Two foot, stay in center of trampoline, jump

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The Richmond Register, Jack Rutherford on Health & Fitness

February 14, 2017 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

You may have heard that this is the first generation of kids in history who are projected to live shorter

lives than their parents because of increasing obesity rates, unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity.

Roughly one of three children in this country is overweight or obese and cardiovascular disease continues

to be the leading cause of death.

Obesity has a huge impact on children’s quality of life, saddling them with not only physical but

psychological and educational challenges. And unfortunately, statistics show that obese children are

destined to become obese adults who will encounter major long-term health consequences which will

impact our society economically and otherwise.

Clearly, our children deserve better and it is incumbent on each of us to do our part to give our kids a

fighting chance to grow up healthy and happy. Research has proven time and again that active kids learn

better.

They score higher on academic tests, have better focus and better behavior in the classroom, and less

absenteeism than their less fit and overweight counterparts. Moreover, regular physical activity is

associated with a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, some cancers and

ultimately longer life.

To take that one step further, it is also clear that not only is it important for kids to be active every day, it

is equally critical to teach them necessary life skills for healthy and active living which will help them

grow up to be healthy, productive and thriving adults. Physical education teaches these skills and

develops the child as a whole, emphasizing their physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and social health.

Research on PE has shown it can improve children’s cognitive skills, test scores and behaviors. Today’s

physical education classes emphasize physical literacy — what it means to live a healthy lifestyle and

how to go about doing so.

We all know how hard it is to change a habit and so it is essential that kids get started early on healthy

habits such as physical activity and eating healthy. Obviously, the best way to treat chronic diseases such

as diabetes and heart disease is to prevent them in the first place. As the saying goes, an ounce of

prevention is worth a pound of cure.

In Kentucky, physical education has become marginalized in schools as a non-essential subject that is

often first on the chopping block when budget cuts become necessary. This must stop. Leaders in our

schools and our state must be made to see the importance of physical education to the overall health and

well-being of all school children.

Too often schools limit their focus to metrics such as academic performance and graduation rates. Let’s

make sure they don’t forget the one subject that prepares kids by giving them life skills that promotes

their health and improves those academic metrics in the process.

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