Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 17, 1991 TAG: 9102150348
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JUSTINE ELIAS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
When gym teacher Tim Goetz leads the children through a series of drills, they respond with enthusiastic shouts and laughter.
Ask them to do a pull-up or run a mile, however, and their displeasure is evident.
"I see a lot of funny faces when they try the pull-ups," said Goetz.
Twice a year, Goetz tests his third-, fourth- and fifth-grade pupils in upper-body strength, flexibility and stamina as part of the Presidential Physical Fitness Test.
Last fall, when only five Bethel pupils tested above the 50th percentile nationwide, a group of parents decided to raise money for new outdoor gym equipment through the Parent-Teacher Association.
Organizer Cathy Stuart of Christiansburg said Bethel pupils needed equipment to build upper-body and cardiovascular strength - their main weaknesses.
So far, parents have raised $400 of the $2,500 they hope to spend for a five-station fitness course, including push-up blocks and pull-up bars.
Stuart, a physical therapist whose son attends Bethel, says parents must teach their children that play means physical activity.
When children are left alone, Stuart said, their main activities are watching television and playing video games.
And, Stuart pointed out, "If our children are in this kind of shape, so are we."
But before parents start calling their kids - and each other - couch potatoes, state and local officials caution that the test is an imperfect indicator of physical fitness.
Other factors, like nutrition and not enough gym classes, play a role, too.
"We can do all the testing we want. But if you don't do things on a regular basis, you can't do those things on a test," said Del Moser, state Department of Education supervisor of health and physical education. "And until a lot of the youngsters start practicing better nutrition, we're not going to improve."
Whether these tests truly, accurately and objectively measure fitness is questionable, said Susan Miller, a Montgomery County Instructional Supervisor for physical education, math, science and health.
"A pull-up is a strength move," she said. "It has nothing to do with physical fitness. The fitness test is a misnomer. Only one or two components of the test actually measure fitness."
Montgomery County's elementary school children get two 30-minute gym classes with a gym teacher. Three days a week, classroom teachers supervise their children's physical education periods.
Administrators discussed changes in the physical education program, which Miller said will incorporate more fitness training.
"I would rather see them running during class than practicing pull-ups," she said. "Cardiovascular fitness is infinitely more important than strength."
Miller and other administrators point out that state-by-state comparisons are invalid because different states use different tests from a selection of 12 suggestions by the president's council.
Virginia uses the following four tests:
\ Pull-ups: Students hang from a bar with arms extended and palms facing away. They lift themselves, with their chins topping the bar, as many times as they can. It measures upper body strength.
Satisfactory scores range from one for girls to eight for 17-year-old boys.
\ Curl-ups: Similar to sit-ups, students sit with knees flexed, arms folded across their chest and hands touching opposite shoulders. Students sit up and touch their elbows to their thighs as many times as they can in a minute.
It measures abdominal strength and endurance.
Satisfactory scores range from 30 for 9-year-old girls to 44 for 17-year-old boys.
\ V-sit reach: Students sit with their legs spread into a "V" and their knees held down flat by two other students. They clasp hands and, after three warm-ups, stretch forward as far as they can and touch the floor for three seconds.
This measures agility and flexibility.
\ One-mile run-walk: Students run a mile as fast as they can. The test measures endurance and heart-lung strength.
Satisfactory scores range from nearly 12 minutes for 9-year-old girls to about seven minutes for 17-year-old boys.
Those who test in the 85th percentile or higher in the country win a badge and a certificate from the president's council.
Anyone who tests in between the 50th and 84th percentile earns a commendation.
With only two classes per week with a gym specialist, Goetz said, Bethel pupils are at a disadvantage.
"If I taught gym every day, I could incorporate a lot more fitness. I've only had four kids win the Presidential Fitness award in three years."
With the time that he has, Goetz tries to do more than just whip kids into shape.
He teaches sportsmanship, teamwork, proper warm-up techniques, and introduces children to sports they can enjoy all their lives.
"Soccer, basketball and softball are the favorites. You can play on teams all the way through college and afterward."
Goetz and other Bethel teachers supervise a popular before-school walking club for grades K-5. Members walk or jog each day, and the group's total mileage is recorded on a "Walk Across America" chart.
"Tim Goetz makes the children feel successful," said Miller. "When they feel successful, they want to come back for more."
Bethel's fifth-graders are much less concerned than their parents about the test results.
The pupils blame their below average performances on lack of practice and lack of equipment to practice on.
"An obstacle course would be good," said Adam Dalton of Christiansburg. "And a nice track to run on."
April White, also of Christiansburg, said: "We could use more things that help with pull-ups."
Many said they would like to have gym class more than twice a week.
Christine Spain, director of the President's Council on Physical Fitness in Washington, praised the Bethel parents' plan to buy equipment, but agreed with the fifth-graders that many factors could explain the test results.
Spain said children are getting less exercise than they used to during the summer, so when they come back to school, they are less fit.
"Students usually do poorly when they are tested in the fall," Spain said.
Spain was surprised to hear that Bethel children have only two 30-minute gym classes a week. "That's not enough."
A closer look at the Bethel results shows that nearly all the children passed at least one of the tests.
In a fifth-grade class of seven girls and eight boys, three children were above the 50th percentile in all four disciplines.
All the girls did the required number of sit-ups in one minute; four passed the flexibility test; three passed the mile run.
The two fastest times in the mile were set by girls.
One 10-year-old girl ran the mile in 7:51 - a time well above the 85th percentile. She did not win a presidential badge, though, because she, like all but two of the girls, could not do a pull-up.
Six boys passed the flexibility test, but only two did the required number of sit-ups.
Only two passed the mile run. Half the boys did the required number of pull-ups.
The president's fitness challenge began in the 1960s, but the form of the test has changed over the years.
In 1985, the council tested 19,200 school children ages 6 to 17 to update its standards for passing.
Old tests, such as the 50-yard dash, the 600-yard run and the standing broad jump, were eliminated.
The new tests were designed to measure flexibility, stamina and upper-body strength rather than specific skills.
In the past, only boys were required to do pull-ups. Girls were tested on the bent-arm hang - how long they could maintain a chin-up position.
"We were criticized for making it different for boys and girls," Spain said.
Since many children who excel at the other parts of the test cannot do a pull-up, Spain said gym teachers often substitute the bent-arm hang test.
"It's a personal choice for the teacher," she said. "Each teacher knows his own class best."
Starting next year, the council will offer a third type of prize for children who participate in the test.
"We're doing that so nobody will be left out at the awards ceremony," Spain said. "After all, our whole thing is to get kids involved in fitness."
At Bethel, nearly all the fifth-graders report that they regularly participate in sports, including volleyball, basketball and the walking club.
The weakest areas - the mile and the pull-ups - could be passed after a few months of practice, Goetz said.
His pupils agreed. "I think I could do better if I worked on it," said White.
Amy Lytton, a fifth grader from Christiansburg, predicts that she and her classmates will improve their fall performances. Lytton already has qualified for the presidential award.
"I did six pull ups last time," Lytton said. "I can do more."
by CNB