Swansfield Elementary School?s Walking Wednesday program, in which students walk a quarter of a mile, is the model all Howard County schools are striving for.
And Jackie French, county facilitator for physical education and dance, said she?s developing ideas for incorporating more physical activity into the school day, an initiative outlined in the recently approved health and wellness policy.
Physical education classes have been reduced during the past 15 years, in part because the School Board has approved more courses with support from parents, and the state has cut back on graduation requirements, she said. Foreign language was added to the middle school curriculum, as were more electives for high schoolers.
But students can participate in school-sponsored dance clubs and organized sports, French said.
School Board Chairman Joshua Kaufman said the board supports offering foreign language early in a student?s academic career, though some students may choose to cut back on physical education.
“We?ve been spending more time on academics, and that?s been at the expense of other things,” he said.
“And, with [the] No Child Left Behind [Act], we have to make sure we?re meeting annual yearly progress through standardized tests.”
Swansfield Elementary?s Walking Wednesday program boasts a participation rate of more than 70 percent. It began last fall after the school PTA?s Health and Fitness Committee approached Principal Jonathan Davis with the idea.
“Children are much more inactive outside of the school, preferring technology to movement,” said committee member Kathy Eckley.
“This program offers the chance for vigorous physical activity for an extended period of time.”
At a glance
» According to the new health and wellness policy, students in elementary school will receive 36 weeks; sixth-graders an 18-week minimum, seventh- and eighth-graders a nine-week minimum; and high schoolers 18 weeks.
» Before the state Board of Education approved changes to the physical education requirements for graduation in the early 1990s, students in elementary school received 36 weeks; middle schoolers 27 weeks; and high schoolers 36 weeks.
Source: Howard County Public Schools
tjohnson@baltimoreexaminer
