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Grant
will help promote
lifelong
fitness for students
by
Kim Fickett
Landmark editor
A
grant received by the Platte City Middle School will help
promote fitness to students well into the future.
The
$2,000 after-school physical education grant is one of
32 grants offered by the State of Missouri.
"The
purpose of this physical education grant is to promote
lifetime fitness that each student can maintain well into
adulthood," said Jeff Humburg, physical education
teacher for the Platte City Middle School.
The
grant will be used to purchase equipment that will help
monitor cardiovascular fitness and improve physical performance,
in preparation of this year's 4-mile Kansas City Trolley
Run on April 28. The Trolley Run is the largest four mile
run in the United States.
The
after-school program involving seventh and eighth grade
students in the district will begin in the spring of 2002.
The students will take part in a six week running program
that will end with each participating student running
in the Trolley Run. Humburg said he hopes to see approximately
70 students participate in this year's run. This number
of students would represent 25 percent of the seventh
and eighth grade classes in the district.
"It
is our hope to use the grant to promote lifetime physical
fitness through the introduction of running. Each student
who takes part in the six week program will be preparing
for a lifetime of cardiovascular fitness," said Humburg.
"This can be compared to other teachers preparing
students for a lifetime of learning. By focusing on health
benefits, rather than competitive performance criteria,
students are more likely to develop and maintain lifelong
physical fitness."
The
students will participate in two to five mile road runs,
ladder and timed runs, and fitness stations for 1 1/2
hours, four times per week for six weeks.
Money
raised from this year's Trolley Run will benefit the Children's
Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI). This year the
students' goal for CCVI is $1,000.
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