PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- Division Public Education (DPE) and the Physical Education Coordinator had their Annual Public Primary Schools demonstration of students physical activities.
Head of Public Education, Glenderlin Davis-Holiday, opened the night with some encouraging words to the students and audience. "Tonight is a coming together of students from different schools within the Public Education system. I am sure that you will enjoy the night. The parents, teachers, and students, I want you to enjoy the show, so relax and look at these wonderful young people demonstrate their physical ability. Thank you for coming out," Davis-Holiday said.
At the L.B. Scot Sports Auditorium, the DPE Schools Physical Ed coordinator David Forsythe and the rest of the staff went through several exercises with students, demonstrating to the parents, guardians, and other family members, the type of sports experiences of students that are provided in classes throughout the public primary schools. The students were able to show their physical dexterity to the attending crowd, who were pleased to see their loved ones on stage.
"The idea is to show that by being healthy these particular types of exercises can be duplicated at home or elsewhere. It is also to encourage the parents and guardians," Forsythe said, "to partake in these exercises with not only their kids but to do the exercises themselves, thus promoting a healthy physical exercise environment."
He continued, "Physical Education provides our students with the opportunity to participate in organized activities that both stimulates and challenges our students' physical, emotional and mental health. Hence, the program is divided in three content areas: developmental, movement and wellness."
Forsythe went on to state that the division staff has seen a positive relationship between fitness levels and academic performance, while decreasing disciplinary incidents. We have also seen a decrease of the body mass index (BMI) after being in the program for a couple of years
Our results show, Forsythe said that the percentage of overweight and obese students is on the decline. These are of course the results of the students we are engaged with. However, the troubling thing is that of the underweight percentage is on the rise. This clearly points towards their diet and nutrition. The healthy offerings must be increased and the not so healthy offerings reduced.
Our physical education teachers recognize that they have the opportunity to affect the quality of their students' lives, giving them skills to be healthy and active for a lifetime.
Present were the staff of the department, teachers, parents, guardians, and other family members.