Thornton - Middle School PE class

This is a picture of a 7th grade physical education class at a middle school in Thornton, Colorado.  The students are doing their mile test.  At the beginning of each trimester, the students take physical tests and then are tested again at the end of the trimester to see if there is growth.  The tests include running a mile, long jump, number of push-ups in a minutes, number of sit-ups in a minute, pull-ups, and high jump.  From an educator's point of view, it is important to collect data about the students to see if there is growth over time.  Students at the middle school take PE each year for one trimester which is twelve weeks.  The class is every day for 50 minutes.  Even though it looks like everyone in the picture is running, some students do not really try on their tests.  It is hard to collect data on these kids, but they have to at least walk the mile so they are getting some exercise.  Physical education is important because children need daily exercise.  More and more PE is getting cut from schools which sends the message to our children that exercise is not important.  As the rate of obesity in American children grows, schools should be adding PE instead of cutting it.  It is hard with the budget for schools getting cut every year, however, with the push for health from the Obama administration, perhaps more funding for PE will become available.  For many students, it is the only exercise they are going to get all day.  Not only is PE being cut, but all 7th grade after school sports as well as 8th grade football were cut from the district.  As adults, we need to model healthy behavior for our children.  The community members need to make sure they are voting to pass levies to support the schools.  However, it is also important for members of the community to voice their opinion about what should be done with the money.  Many people don't think they can do anything about what goes on in schools but they are wrong.  Schools are run by board members which are members of the community.  There are board meetings every month where members of the community can go to voice their thoughts and concerns.  Though something might not happen overnight to bring more PE back to the schools, the movement needs to start somewhere.