9 SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN STATE WILL SHARE $3.5 MILLION

Lexington Herald Leader
October 20, 2004

Nine school systems, including Fayette County, will share $3.5 million in grants to fight obesity in children.

The money came from the U.S. Department of Education, through the No Child Left Behind program that provides grants for school districts and community-based organizations to initiate, expand or improve physical education programs.

About a quarter of Kentucky's pre-schoolers and almost half its sixth-graders are overweight or at risk of becoming so, a state task force said this year.

The goals of the grant are to boost state test scores in practical living and increase the physical activity levels and health habits of students, said physical education teacher Sheila McIntosh, who applied for the federal money for Fayette County. "To do this we're going to have to change the school environment," she said.

The elimination of recess, cuts in physical education and widespread practice of giving kids candy and food as a reward have made schools "a toxic environment," she said. Money from the grant will provide 17 Fayette County schools with additional curriculum and equipment, including pedometers and heart monitors.

"When kids start getting into the technology with heart monitors and pedometers, they begin to think more about their health," said Fayette Schools Superintendent Stu Silberman. "And, particularly at the elementary level, they can begin to start forming healthy habits."

Efforts will be made to help teachers incorporate movement into their classroom lessons and improve nutrition education in the classroom and cafeteria. Additionally, changes will be made in physical education so students are physically active for a greater portion of class.

Ironically, McIntosh, who wrote the grant for the district, had been the content specialist in physical education for Fayette County Schools but the position was downsized in the central office cuts last spring. She is now a physical education teacher at Jessie Clark Middle School, one of the schools slated to participate in the grant.

Jack Hayes, director of student achievement in Fayette County, said officials have not yet decided who will administer the grant.

The nine school systems and the grants are:

Fayette County Public Schools, $607,424. Participating schools include:Clays Mill, Harrison, Johnson, Julius Marks, Lansdowne, Linlee, Rosa Parks, Southern and Tates Creek elementary schools; Beaumont, Jessie Clark, Morton, Leestown, LTMS and Edythe J. Hayes middle schools; and Lafayette and Tates Creek High Schools.

Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children in Louisville, $568,525.

Middlesboro Independent Schools, $468,224.

Mason County Schools, $338,787.

Robertson County Board of Education, $303,777.

Union County Board of Education, $350,100.

Warren County Public Schools, $408,447.

Covington Independent Schools, $408,447.

Raceland Worthington Independent Schools, $235,836.

This year, the physical education piece of the NCLB program will award 237 new grants nationwide worth nearly $69 million.