ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 15, 1996 TAG: 9601150073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Boys and girls jump rope at Roanoke's Fallon Park Elementary School because they're trying to get in shape for the state's fitness tests this spring.
They're hoping to build endurance for the mile run by jumping on the basketball court in the school gymnasium. The winter weather is too harsh for them to run outside.
Roanoke's elementary schools are making a big push to get more fourth- and fifth-grade children to pass the fitness tests this year. Only 27 percent of all the city's fourth- and fifth-graders passed all four tests last spring.
Fourth-grader Waylon Hagy skipped the rope 12 times before he missed. Classmate Tony Martin did better: He cleared it 20 times before he tripped.
The boys are improving, but still they are not as good as the girls. Jenna Blankenship jumped 30 times; Tina Maxey, 27; and Anna Spradlin, 24.
Cheryl Nicely, Fallon Park's physical education teacher, divided the class into squads and told them to keep records of each child's jumps. They calculated an average for each squad.
"Excellent, excellent," Nicely told one squad. "Keep it up."
Anna came prepared for physical education class with a blue "Beverly Hills Athletic Dept." sweat shirt. She likes to jump rope and exercise, but like most children, she hates pull-ups.
Her classmate Tina said she enjoys physical education, too, even though the fitness tests are tough.
The children begin their class with five minutes of calisthenics and jogging around the basketball court to improve their flexibility and cardiovascular condition. Most go at the same pace, but two or three lagged behind their classmates on the jog.
At Garden City Elementary, fourth- and fifth-graders are doing better on the tests than those at many city schools: 36 percent of them passed all four tests last year.
Calvin Waldron, Garden City's physical education teacher, keeps his pupils busy by stressing participation and teamwork in fitness activity rather than competition. He had them jump back and forth on their toes across a rope lying on the floor.
"Keep moving to work your heart and lungs, and work on your jumping skills," Waldron told the children.
He believes the fitness scores can be improved if schools, parents and the community give more attention to physical education. He thinks computers, video games, television and other sedentary activities are partly responsible for the poor scores on fitness tests.
"There is a lot more attention on inside things than there was 10 years ago," Waldron said. "We have to redirect our attention to the body and work with fitness, or later life is not going to be that productive."
Nicely said fewer children are participating in sports now than 15 to 20 years ago. "We also need to get more parents involved in their children's fitness."
The fitness tests are given in the fall and spring to all children in grades four to 10. They include: a mile run, pull-ups, sit-ups and a v-sit reach in which the children sit on the floor and reach beyond their feet. The passing standards for each test are different for boys and girls, and they vary by age.
The most difficult test for both boys and girls is pull-ups: Children are required to pull up their bodies with their arms so their chin reaches a bar above their head. Boys in elementary and middle schools are required to do two pull-ups; girls have to do only one. Still, many boys and girls fail this test.
Waldron said the pull-ups test upper body strength, not physical condition or endurance. "A lot of it is body type. It is hard for some children to pull up a heavy body."
Roanoke is not alone with low pass rates on fitness tests. Statewide, only 35 percent of fourth- and fifth-graders pass all tests. The rate is below 50 percent for all school systems in the Roanoke and New River valleys.
The scores are equally dismal for students in middle and high schools in both the region and state, but they have crept up a few percentage points in the past three years.
Roanoke's physical education teachers are stretched thin in elementary schools. The city has 14 teachers for 21 elementary schools, with several teachers serving more than one school.
At Fallon Park, Nicely is the only physical education teacher for 650 children. She teaches nine 30-minute classes daily. Waldron teaches 350 at Garden City Elementary, where he works four days a week. He spends one day a week at Highland Park Elementary.
Fourth- and fifth-graders have three 30-minute physical education classes a week at most of the city's elementary schools. At some schools, including Fallon Park, children in the first, second and third grades have only one 30-minute physical education class a week.
At Garden City and some other schools, there are two classes a week for the first three grades.
Kindergartners have one 30-minute class weekly at some schools and none at other schools.
Superintendent Wayne Harris has recommended the hiring of two additional elementary physical education teachers next year. The School Board approved his recommendation for two additional teachers this year.
Harris has set a goal of increasing the number of elementary children passing the fitness tests by 7 percent a year in each of the next three years.
Waldron said additional teachers will make a difference in the percentage of children passing the tests. "It will take a few years, but you will see improvement."
Nicely and Waldron said they try to help their pupils prepare for the fitness tests by developing the muscular strength and conditioning they will need to do well.
Nicely includes a variety of calisthenics, games, track and field events and other sports in her classes during the school year. She has also organized a runners' club for children who like to jog.
Elementary children also can work on improving their fitness when they play outside during recess in good weather. At some schools, physical education teachers give pointers to other teachers on activities that will help prepare the children for the tests.
Ann Talton, Garden City's principal, said Waldron has been particularly helpful in working with teachers to help raise the school's pass rate. The classroom teachers do what they can, but recess does not help the children as much as physical education classes to get ready for the tests, she said.
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Fourth-grade students participateby CNBin a physical education class at Fallon Park Elementary School in
Roanoke. color. Graphic: Chart by staff: Passing the fitness test.