Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 10, 1994 TAG: 9403100165
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PEMBROKE LENGTH: Medium
At Eastern Elementary School in Giles County, don't be surprised to catch the children playing "Leprechaun Tag," "Parachute Dance," "Pillow Polo" or "Cage-ball Kickover."
Huh?
Whatever happened to kickball, baseball and flag football?
It's not gone, said health and physical education teacher Lea Beth Bowers. It's just that games like "Hoppity Bob" and "Scooters to Music" keep the kids more interested and fulfill their fitness needs.
Because of the school's innovative approach to keeping kids fit, the Virginia Department of Health and Physical Education recently named the school a "State Demonstration Center for Virginia," which means their gym classes will serve as models to other schools that need improvement. Eastern is the only school in Southwest Virginia to receive the honor, which they will keep for six years before being re-evaluated.
Del Moser, the head of the Health and P.E. Department, visited the school Tuesday night, where he presented the school with a banner to hang in the gym.
"Instead of just kickball, softball and baseball, we try to add fun, crazy things," Bowers said. "I guess that's why we were chosen. That, and parent involvement" have made the program a success.
Bowers, a parent who is also president of the Narrows Elementary Parent-Teacher Association, has taught in Giles County for 15 years. She said her method of teaching has definitely changed over time.
"When I first started teaching out of college, we were taught to sit down and teach 'this, this and this,'" she said. "Now I make up my own programs where the kids don't even know they're exercising and they have so much fun."
Many of the games Bowers uses are simply a twist on some of the basics like tag or relay races. But the variety keeps the children energized, she said.
Bowers said other school systems are interested in the programs she has designed at Eastern. Schools in Montgomery County and several counties in West Virginia have come to observe her classes. As a State Demonstration Center, it is Bowers' responsibility to assist these schools. She has designed an outline that summarizes her program which she supplies to schools who call.
"We're obviously very proud of [the honor]," school Superintendent Robert McCracken said. "But the thing that's really important is the process [Bowers] had to go through to get there. This was a nonmandated self-improvement program and I think it says a lot about the school to voluntarily seek to improve themselves."
But don't take the adults' word - it's the kids who are having all the fun.
"I like Cage Ball Kickover," said 6-year-old Erin Barnett. "You take a big beach ball and you kick it over somebody's head and you get a point and you don't even have to take your shoes off."
Josh Stevers, 7, prefers Hoppity Bob and Scooters to Music, take-offs on the traditional relay race.
"I like those games the best because I beat everybody because I'm the fastest," he said.
Derek Snider, 6, thinks playing Leprechaun Tag is lots of fun "but it makes me tired.
"They pick two leprechauns and two shamrocks," Derek said. "The leprechauns freeze you and the shamrocks unfreeze you."
by CNB