October 2006

Editor's Note: Keep on Moving

With this issue, we are continuing our yearlong general theme of physical fitness with a look at outstanding physical education programs in the Puget Sound area.

I was one of those kids who hated P.E. My reaction to a ball approaching me was “AAGH!” I once chipped a tooth tripping and falling in the hated dodge ball. A friend, knowing we’d emigrated from England, once asked me if I’d played cricket (no) and if so, was it a game where you tried not to hit the ball? I didn’t mind the part where you had to take turns in P.E., always hoping that there wouldn’t be time to get to me.

As soon as I hit high school, I escaped into modern dance, except for the occasional foray into sailing and golf (Seattle Public Schools, apparently, had more money back then).

The P.E. programs we’ve profiled emphasize lifelong fitness and fun for kids who are natural athletes and for kids like me who often felt like failures. The focus is on each child finding individual success and learning skills he can use outside the classroom. We hope these examples help you evaluate your own schools’ physical education programs and advocate for change if you find them stuck in the same pro-jock, take-turns, overly-competitive rut. (Not that competition isn’t good for many kids in their areas of success and/or passion. That’s what team sports are for.)

… And Keep on Walking

We’re always told that walking is the easiest, least expensive and most accessible form of daily exercise, and yet only 10 percent of U.S. children walk to school regularly. In an effort to improve that miserable statistic, the organizers of International Walk to School Day urge parents and teachers to organize walking events on Oct. 4.

Last year, dozens of local schools from Everett to Olympia joined hundreds nationwide in holding Walk to School Day events. As of press time, the following schools are signed up this year: Sherman Elementary in Tacoma; Margaret Mead Elementary in Sammamish; Spruce Elementary in Lynnwood; and Laurelhurst, Wing Luke, Emerson, Dearborn Park, Maple and View Ridge Elementary Schools in Seattle. To see if your child’s school has an event planned, call International Walk to School America at 916-962-7419 or visit the Web site at www.walktoschool.org.

If your school doesn’t have anything planned, it’s not too late. This year, for the first time, Walk to School Day has been expanded to Walk to School Month for all of October. Walk to School events can be as simple as a few kids and parents meeting to walk to school or as elaborate as community celebrations with local politicians and refreshments. The Web site has detailed instructions for planning an event, along with flyers, press releases and templates for printing stickers, certificates and frequent walker punch cards.

Nominate a Young Hero by Oct. 15

We’re still looking for young people who have given back to the Puget Sound community to honor as Young Heroes in our December issues. Please Please fill in the nomination form below and return it to Editor, Seattle’s Child, 511 2nd Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119, by Oct. 15, 2006. (You can write a longer description of the young person’s actions if you’d like to.) You may also nominate a young person online, by writing to nweditor@seattleschild.com and typing “Young Hero Nomination” on the subject line.

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Seattle's Child, a publication of the Washington Post Company
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