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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 28, 2006 Be a Fit Kid program melded with Bellview PE curriculum By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Fourth-graders at Ashland elementary schools are the latest group of kids to go through a locally developed physical activity program. Kids at Bellview Elementary School are in three weeks into the Be A Fit Kid program that an associate professor of health and physical education at Southern Oregon University created. “We try to make it, as much as possible, an individualized program, which means we give children different goals to focus on,” said Jenny Slawta, who teaches exercise physiology and nutrition at the university. Be A Fit Kid piloted at four local elementary schools for two years before the Ashland School District adopted the curriculum. During the 12-week program, three-fourths of participants showed significant health improvements, according to Slawta, who has a doctorate in disease prevention. “We’ve had really good improvements in fitness,” she said. “What I’m really trying to is promote lifelong interest in physical activity and healthy eating habits.” Now at Bellview, the program will reach fourth graders throughout the district and, by this time next year, have been incorporated into the health and physical education curriculum at all three elementary schools. The program emphasizes activities such as running, and gives kids incentives for reaching personal goals. Be A Fit Kid, which is offered through the nonprofit organization Healthy Kids Now, also includes pre- and post-intervention measurements of fitness, dietary habits and other health-related information. But it’s not a race. It also doesn’t replace traditional PE classes, but offers students a glimpse into noncompetitive activities they may enjoy. “They have so many kids in a PE class at one time that it’s really hard to not have a game like dodgeball,” Slawta said. “Our goal is to make them competitive with themselves instead of someone else.” DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams