Advocate for your Program!
The most successful physical education programs incorporate community involvement. Many times it takes one champion in the community to initiate a movement and often, the first step in enlisting community involvement is getting key decision makers and leaders in the same room.
These key decision makers include:
Remember, data drives decisions and assessments are a key factor to be able to share your successes! Use the documents below to help promote your stellar physical education program or the positive changes you are making to impact the health of the children in your community.
PE4life Featured in Washington Post
For more resources, view our News & Resources page.
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School Spotlight: Ankeny Community School District
The mission of the Physical Education and Health programs is to empower each student to make informed decisions to lead healthy and active lifestyles. The secondary schools focus on individual fitness through many formats, and all of the schools are beginning to implement more outdoor education activities. The PE staff will also be starting an annual 5K run for the district next year.
Parkview Middle School (6th/7th grade) begins to introduce the students to the use of technology in PE. Some of the technology at Parkview includes the use of Polar Heart Rate Monitors, and vodcasting to create student lead exercise videos. Parkview focuses on individual lifetime fitness, team sports, and special activities. Many of the activities and team sports incorporate small sided games. Fitness testing is analyzed to drive instruction throughout the year, and used by students to set personal goals. Students attend Health and PE on opposite days.
Northview Middle School (8th/9th grade) has a unique programming style where health and physical education are integrated in an 84 minute block of time every other day. Our students continue the use of the heart rate monitors that were introduced to them at Parkview. Northview also uses the tri-fit system to obtain data on the specific fitness needs of our students and when students leave Northview they receive a report with their two year fitness results. Northview offers our students a variety of activity choices. Every four weeks our students are allowed to choose the activities they would like to participate in for the rotation. This allows our students to have some ownership in their fitness choices and allows them to find activities that they may choose to do for a lifetime. Our goal for our program is to continue to add new activities to our program and integrate our health and physical education curriculum in order to continue to give our students a broad spectrum of skills.
The Ankeny High School Physical Education Program provides for the varying needs of students through curriculum that offers a variety of choices of physical activities. All students must take one of the four PE offerings both semesters of all three years enrolled at the high school level. Offering a variety of activities creates opportunities for exposure to various lifetime activities and sports. The curriculum is designed to promote the development of physical and mental health in addition to providing students with the knowledge and skills that lead to personal wellness. AHS Physical Education emphasizes the importance of establishing and maintaining personal fitness levels, improving interpersonal skills, and encouraging physical activity over a lifetime. Use of technology includes the Polar TriFit computer system as well as the implementation of Ecko Heart Rate Monitors. All students complete Fitnessgram physical fitness testing that helps guide our instruction.
Want your school’s PE program to be featured in our newsletter? Send a brief description of why your PE program deserves the spotlight to msheppard@pe4life.org.
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Reminder!
Regardless if you are an Academy Training Center or a newly identified Model Site, help us promote you! If you haven’t already, be sure to submit these forms to Rachelle Gardner by April 23rd
Model Site Physical Educator Bio
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Tell us your story and you could win free registration to our upcoming Resource Conference, plus loads of other prizes!
PE4life Academy Director, Tim McCord, recently wrote a powerful statement on the PE4life blog - "There is no better time than the present to be a physical educator. The spotlight is shining upon us."
We think Tim is right. With all the anti-obesity efforts recently initiated, including the First Lady’s admirable Let’s Move campaign, there has never been a better time for us to stand up and declare the importance of physical education in the fight against childhood obesity. After all, it’s the physical educators who are in the trenches, executing PE4life’s Core Principles and witnessing the affect they are having on students and communities. So, while we are well aware of the positive impact physical education has on our youth, it’s the perfect time to share our successes with the rest of the world!
Make your stories heard – stories of academic achievement, improved fitness scores, community involvement, decreased disciplinary incidents – any and all testimonials that demonstrate quality physical education is having positive impact on the lives in your school and community.
Send your stories to info@pe4life.org by May 1st and we’ll compile all the testimonials into a downloadable booklet available on our website, which we encourage you to use as a resource to garner additional support for your program. You’ll also be entered to win free registration to our upcoming Resource Conference, plus other cool prizes. Remember to include your name and school district to get the credit you deserve!
Want to share your story in photos? Just be sure to have your student’s legal guardian fill out a photo release form, giving us permission to use the photo.
PE4life’s Core Principles
We believe PE should:
• Be directed to all students, not just the athletically inclined
• Offer a variety of fitness, sport, leisure and adventure activities
• Provide a safe and encouraging learning environment
• Utilize individual assessments
• Incorporate current technology
• Extend beyond the walls of the gymnasium
• Ideally, be offered to every child every day