Physical Education

Fewer than one-third of California students who took a statewide physical fitness test this year managed to pass all six areas assessed, new results show. State Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, a longtime cross-country coach who has made physical fitness a signature issue, announced the results this week as he launched a program to improve children's health. The campaign will use such celebrity athletes as NBA all-star Bill Walton and others to visit schools to urge students to drink more water, eat more fruits and vegetables and increase their exercise.

Physical education may be disappearing from some schools, but a study finds that kids who engage in sports or physical activity may do better academically. Researchers analyzed 14 studies (most from the U.S.) looking at the relationship between exercise and school performance. Of those, 10 were based on observation, four used interventions. The number of participants, aged 6 to 18, ranged from 53 to about 12,000. The study was released Monday in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine . Although some of the studies were inconsistent in discovering a link between being more active and better academic performance, other papers did find evidence.

There's no slacking off now for school kids -- the California Court of Appeal has ruled that public elementary schools must provide 200 minutes of physical education every 10 days (an average 20 minutes a day), in compliance with state laws. For middle and high schools, that number bumps up to an average 40 minutes a day. The ruling overturns a Sacramento trial court decision that the law was not legally enforceable, and that parents could not enforce the law. A parent in the Auburn Unified School District had sued the district, the California Department of Education and the school board to enforce the law. "Thankfully, the California Court of Appeals recognizes that law means law and that public schools must provide adequate physical education.

Fewer than one-third of California students who took a statewide physical fitness test this year managed to pass all six areas assessed, new results show. State Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, a longtime cross-country coach who has made physical fitness a signature issue, announced the results this week as he launched a program to improve children's health. The campaign will use such celebrity athletes as NBA all-star Bill Walton and others to visit schools to urge students to drink more water, eat more fruits and vegetables and increase their exercise.

In "26% of Kids Overweight, Study Finds" (Dec. 12), it was quite disturbing to find out that there are kids in middle school who weigh over 200 pounds. That's more than I -- a 36-year-old male -- weigh now. When I grew up, my school had a physical education class every day. I think it took an act of God to get excused from P.E. We kids played kickball, softball and basketball, on blacktop no less. You learned to take your bumps and bruises or stay on your feet. At home, after school or on the weekends, unless it was raining or getting dark, we were outside.

If the problems of money and quality of instruction in our public schools are to be solved, the first step should be to slaughter some sacred cows. The first is physical education. It should be offered as an elective rather than compulsory. P.E. is no more than a fun-and-games interlude between important studies. The average student can match the physical fitness claimed for physical education by walking a mile to and from school each day. This would cost nothing. As an elective, physical education could be scheduled after school along with competitive sports.

Instructor Diane Henry, who began her teaching career at Cypress College 15 years ago as a part-time trainer, has been named dean of physical education. Henry, 41, replaces Larry Mercadante, who served as dean for 13 years before being named vice president of Student Development Services this summer. Henry was selected for the position from a field of 30 applicants, according to college officials.

UC Irvine administrators have proposed closing the campus' physical education department. If the plan is approved by the Academic Senate in April, all physical education courses will be transferred to UCI's campus recreation program. Starting next fall, sports classes would be offered for no credit and students would pay fees for some of the classes. Current courses offered through campus recreation, such as aerobics, have a variety of fees, but physical education classes are free.

Jerry R. Russom, the former head of physical education for the Los Angeles Unified School District, has died at a Pasadena hospital. He was 82. A resident of Glendale, he died Wednesday of complications from heart disease and Parkinson's disease, said his wife, Jean Russom. Born in Broken Bow, Neb., Russom earned a bachelor of science degree in 1931 and a master of arts degree in 1939, both from UCLA, where he was a quarterback for three seasons during his undergraduate years.

More than 50 parents and teachers attending the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board meeting Tuesday night protested plans to eliminate physical education classes for elementary school students in the district. The group pleaded with the board to spare the physical education teachers from cuts.

Physical education classes may be scarce in some schools, but an activity program combined with school lessons could boost academic performance, a study finds. Research presented recently at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Denver looked at the effects of a 40-minute-a-day, five-day-a-week physical activity program on test scores of first- through sixth-graders at a public school. This program was a little different from most, since it incorporated academic lessons along with exercise.

After years of delays and false starts, the project seemed to be nearing completion, finally. It was the spring of 2009, and construction crews at Los Angeles City College appeared to have accomplished the neat trick of building a track and athletic field on the roof of a new parking structure. Field boundaries had been marked in white on the artificial turf. Bleachers had been installed, and workers were laying the track. Billions to Spend: Complete Coverage It was easy to imagine that students would soon be playing soccer or running sprints against a backdrop of pencil-thin palms, chocolate-colored hills and the Hollywood sign.

Calling it a moral obligation and matter of national security, President Obama unveiled an ambitious government effort Monday to increase support for military families. The push is aimed at using the full force of the federal government to aid the families of the country's more than 2.2 million service members. Four areas are being emphasized: the mental and physical health of military families; the education of their children; the educational and career opportunities afforded spouses; and the availability and quality of child care within the armed services.

There's no slacking off now for school kids -- the California Court of Appeal has ruled that public elementary schools must provide 200 minutes of physical education every 10 days (an average 20 minutes a day), in compliance with state laws. For middle and high schools, that number bumps up to an average 40 minutes a day. The ruling overturns a Sacramento trial court decision that the law was not legally enforceable, and that parents could not enforce the law. A parent in the Auburn Unified School District had sued the district, the California Department of Education and the school board to enforce the law. "Thankfully, the California Court of Appeals recognizes that law means law and that public schools must provide adequate physical education.

Alfonso B. Perez, a veteran administrator who helped shape special education programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District and as principal guided his alma mater, Roosevelt High, during a tense period of Chicano protest, died July 2 at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. He was 91. The cause was a heart attack, said his grandson, Paul Aguirre. Perez joined the district as a teacher for disabled students in 1947, when few resources were available in public schools for students with physical and mental impairments.

With its fountains, gardens, playgrounds, murals and spotless walkways, Frances Blend School in Hollywood looks more like an oasis than a battleground over the future of education for the disabled. The well-ordered campus for young blind students conveys the message that no detail, no extra care, is too trivial or wasted in helping the neediest in the Los Angeles Unified School District. This level of care, intermittent districtwide, grew out of decades of effort by educators and advocates, who sometimes sued the district to secure rights.

Woodland Hills Elementary School has received a $20,634 grant from a Woodland Hills-based health-maintenance organization to purchase state-of-the-art physical fitness equipment. The grant, from CareAmerica Health Plans, will be used to purchase permanent outdoor equipment and develop a cardiovascular fitness and wellness curriculum, the company said.

Girls at the Marlborough School in Los Angeles have an unusual class option to traditional physical education. Since the start of the school year, students have been able to take Hatha yoga--a style that incorporates stretching and breathing exercises. A class of about 15 girls meets for 50 minutes at a time. "A lot of them are taking the class because they want to feel less stressed out," said Judit Sekler, the yoga teacher. "They have a really demanding academic schedule.

There's good and bad news when it comes to American obesity, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday at an event addressing the nation's increasingly costly and deadly weight problem.

Sung to the central theme of Franz Schubert's 8th Symphony: "This is the symphony / That Schubert wrote and never finished." That mnemonic ditty was a mainstay of music appreciation classes 75 years ago, an easy way for children to identify the so-called Unfinished Symphony. (Schubert) To some extent, such classes worked. Along with the wider availability of recorded music and public museums, music and art appreciation expanded the reach of the arts beyond a wealthy, educated elite.