A little bit of news about public education classes....

State of the Art Physical Education model at Sierra Vista, story by John Dell and reposted by Espiritu Arete for Proliteriat Strength! Physical Culture blog...this story ran on www. hometownstation.com

The Sierra Vista Physical Education program is riding high after the most recent shot in the arm, as department head George Velarde was awarded a Gold medal by the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness in a Sports Spotlight Award ceremony in Sacramento this week. As a Gold Medalist, Velarde was selected from a pool of over 700 applicants and he will receive $10,000 for his school's P.E. program.

Since 2002, Velarde has given a head to toe makeover of Sierra Vista's PE program.

"We started this process back in 2002, changing our philosophy from the old PE to the new PE," Velarde said. "That is of course, switching from traditional sports to teaching about health and wellness. That's now our number one priority."

After that core philosophy change, Velarde has led the charge in transforming the PE building into a fitness mecca for kids. Resistance machines and a rock climbing wall accent a slew of flat screen televisions, which are a part of cutting edge interactive video games. In these games students run, jump, and otherwise control the characters and scenarios on screen with their body movements. Outdoor activity is also integrated into the stringent weekly programs, as is aerobics and nutritional instruction. Each P.E. teacher at the school has received a class set of heart rate monitors and pedometers used to collect information on students' personal fitness, which is tracked throughout the year.

The community surrounding Sierra Vista has also played a major role in supporting the program, as yearly fundraisers have funded the new equipment purchases.

"We fundraise every year to maintain the program and to continue building the program," Velarde said. "We try to do as much as we can to bring in money, especially with these budget cuts. We have to be very creative on what we do here at Sierra Vista."

The program has had a major effect on student fitness. Over the past five years, the percentage of Sierra Vista students scoring in the Healthy Fitness Zone on the State Physical Fitness Test has increased significantly and is now the highest in the Hart District and one of the highest in the state.

Sport Supply Group Named Exclusive Equipment Supplier to Focused Fitness

Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:30am EDT

* Multi Year Agreement to Bolster Company`s Supply of Product to Curriculum -
Based Physical Education Programs 
* Places Company at Fore-Front of Fight Against Childhood Obesity 
* Aligns Sport Supply with Industry leader in Coordinated School Health and
After School Programs

DALLAS--(Business Wire)--
Sport Supply Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RBI) today announced it signed a multi year
agreement to become the exclusive equipment supplier to Focused Fitness - one of
the Nation`s leading suppliers of coordinated school health curricula for the
in-school and after-school markets. Under terms of the agreement, Sport Supply
Group will supply physical education products to school districts and
after-school programs who adopt or have already adopted the Focused Fitness
curriculum. Sport Supply will also exclusively promote the Focused Fitness
curriculum through its U.S. Games catalog and web site located at
http://www.usgames.com. 

Kurt Hagen, Executive Vice-President Sales and Marketing for Sport Supply Group
stated: "This new relationship with Focused Fitness is an important step in
aligning SSG with a best of breed national curriculum provider for physical
education departments nationwide. It gives SSG an entrée into the curriculum -
based P.E. market while providing Focused Fitness a conduit to further market
its programs and services through the significant direct marketing reach that
SSG provides. 

"Physical Education in schools has changed dramatically over the last decade
largely in response to the alarming trend of childhood obesity in the United
States. To combat this epidemic, physical education instruction has migrated
from `free play` to curriculum-based. A curriculum-based physical education
program helps students develop the knowledge, motor skills, social skills,
attitudes and confidence needed to adopt and maintain physical activity
throughout their lives and uses regular assessment tools to monitor, measure and
reinforce student learning. Curriculum-based physical education programs use
instructional strategies that provide meaningful inclusion of all students
regardless of skill or fitness level, gender, race or ethnic group. The Federal
Government actively funds, through physical education grants, school district
P.E. programs that are supported by results-based curricula. The Focused Fitness
curriculum offers a comprehensive blueprint for P.E. teachers and after-school
program directors to blend health and fitness concepts with activity time, where
students perform pre-fitness measurements in the fall, and set goals for
personal improvement and perform post-fitness measurements in the spring. With
this new alliance, Sport Supply Group`s broad and innovative line of physical
education equipment will be the product used by physical educators as part of
the Focused Fitness curriculum." 

Karen Cowan, Director of Focused Fitness commented: "We are excited to have
Sport Supply Group as our exclusive equipment supplier in achieving our goal of
teaching fitness and health concepts without sacrificing movement or activity.
By changing the focus of instruction to improve fitness levels and understand
health and fitness concepts, teachers can motivate their students to learn
traditional skills faster. Our Five for Life program - which starts in the first
grade - is the cornerstone of our in-school curriculum and introducing students
to the five basic components of fitness. Sport Supply`s product line, marketing
breadth and dedication to joining us in the fight to better arm America`s
physical educators in the battle for the health of our children is a welcome
addition to our program. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship
with SSG." 

More about this at Reuters September 17th, 2009