School Uses Grant for Fitness Center

Armed with a shiny new state-of-the-art fitness center made possible by a recent grant, Serrania Avenue Elementary School students are prepared for battle against childhood obesity, a problem that health officials say is reaching epidemic proportions nationwide.

Serrania won a competition with 11 other schools by submitting the most creative grant request to the contest sponsor, West Hills Hospital. The prize: a grant for $12,800 to be used for the fitness center and program.

The hospital sponsored the contest in cooperation with Project Fit America, a nonprofit organization aimed at alleviating what its Executive Director Stacey Cook calls a national crisis of kids who are increasingly “grossly out of shape.”

School-age children are at least 10 pounds heavier today than were their parents 30 years ago, Cook said. She said the reason is an ever-growing fear of child abduction.

“Our kids are being raised in lock-down,” Cook explained. “You don’t hear of too many kids today who roller-skate all day and come home at dinner time, like their parents used to. It’s understandable. When you’re in the video store and you can’t see your child’s head for more than three seconds, your heart just drops and you panic. It’s just too scary for parents in this day and age.”

One of the group’s solutions is to integrate a fitness regimen into children’s school days, under adult supervision. The PFA-West Hills Hospital grant Serrania received earlier this fall has made that a reality.

The funds made possible the installation of a seven-station fitness center, which includes a climbing pole and bars for sit-ups and pull-ups. Physical education teachers have incorporated use of the equipment as part of the students’ daily activities, Principal Annette Star said.

The money also paid for fitness textbooks for each student and two years of teacher training, during which student progress is monitored.

Sandi Stutler, a third-grade teacher at Serrania, said that although the program was implemented less than three months ago, she has already begun to see her students shaping up.

“Not just physically,” Stutler said. “Their schoolwork is improving too. It’s almost as though climbing that pole or doing that extra sit-up has given them more self-confidence. They say, ‘Yeah, if I can do that, I can do the extra math problem.’ ”

Studies have proved that physical activity is correlated to academic performance, PFA’s Cook said.

“When they get all that energy, that cabin fever, out of their system, the kids are ready to sit and listen to the teacher,” she said. “They just need to work up a good, old-fashioned sweat and get fresh air in their lungs.”