School fitness program puts parents, students to the test

    COMMERCE CITY —  Parent Sarah Valentine is more fit than a fifth grader. How does she know? She participated in Landmark Academy’s Fitter Than a Fifth Grader event Jan. 18 that allowed parents to take the same fitness test as their children.
    Valentine and her son, fifth-grader Zach, participated in the event together.
    “I thought it sounded like a fun thing,” she said. “My goal is to just keep up with my fifth grader.”
    Physical education teacher Josh Linville led the fitness trial as a way to show parents what the school’s fitness test does and get involved.
    “This is a chance to get the parents to see what it looks like. Experience is always a good way to do that,” he said.
    Landmark has been implementing the PACER test since 2007. It’s part of a program called FitnessGram, which has been adopted by the NFL’s “PLAY 60” movement.

Photo by Emily Dougherty

Photo By Emily Dougherty The Fitter Than a Fifth Grader fitness event had parents of Landmark Academy students pushing through cardiovascular, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility exercises. The goal of the event was to educate parents on their child’s physical education, as well as show the parents how to set an example of a healthy lifestyle.

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    Linville believes the PACER test is more effective than other fitness tests, such as the Presidential Fitness Test or the Mile Run, because it there is no first and last student. It’s not a race.
    “It gives specific feedback, as well as goal setting materials to students and parents,” he said. “It does not spotlight the last student as the slowest. There is no award system that makes kids feel like their personal development – which does play a huge factor especially at the elementary level – means that they have a failing level of fitness.”
    During the Fitter Than a Fifth Grader event, parents could test out of cardiovascular, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility exercises through running, push ups and curl ups.
    The PACER test is given to students in the third through eighth grade. According to Linville, they take the test three times a year.
    “Each time we do the test it compares their current and past results and makes it so they have a print out. On push ups, for example, it will tell you here are some things you can do to increase your upper body strength,” he said.
    After the fitness test, Linville presented a PowerPoint on the PACER test, as well as current health treads – including the uptick in obesity rates.
    “Everyday there’s at least 1 million children in the world who are starving,” he said. “Every day in the world, there’s over 1 million kids that are considered overweight or morbidly obese, to the point where they are looking at the same death that you could get from starving to death. If you’re overweight or obese, you’re looking at more medical complications. It’s just as much of an epidemic. It’s scary, scary stuff.”
    The small group in attendance looked at maps from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the growing number of overweight and obese populations across the country.
    From 1990 to 2010, Colorado’s obese population jumped from 10 percent to 21 percent. In contrast, states like Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Missouri went from 10-14 percent in 1990 to more than 30 percent of their populations.
    “Colorado stayed on the low end of the chart,” Linville said, noting the state’s active culture. But, he added that, just like every other state, percentages are on the rise, quickly.
    Suzanne Schwartz, Landmark dean of third-fifth graders, said that there are more and more keeping kids inside.
    “Even the Wii video game. A lot of those games you can still do sitting down,” she said.
    Linville showed his own research during the presentation, which included comparing fitness results with students’ academic achievement.
    “I took the PACER scores and took the MAP scores and compared them,” he said, pointing to a diagram. “As you can see, as you increase in your PACER test scores, so does your MAP test. For reading and math, the same thing. There’s positive correlation. Yes!”
    Linville urged parents to take note of this data.
    “Keep P.E. around. Keep activity around. The more kids are active, there’s a good chance they’re able to perform academically to.”
    For Linville, the PACER exam event was not just a way to get parents involved in their kids’ physical education, but a way to show them that parents need to set an example of a healthy lifestyle.
    “Everyone should be concerned. Parents need to be involved just as they are in academics to make sure their students is doing well,” he said. “I created the event to raise awareness and form a stronger partnership with parents to engage them in their child’s fitness levels.”

Contact Emily Dougherty at 303-659-2522 ext. 223 or edougherty@metrowestnewspapers.com.