Sunday, August 24, 2008 10:17 PM CDT
They'll be dancing to new beat in P.E., thanks to grant
By JG/T-C Staff
editorial@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Students at Charleston Middle School will be dancing to a new beat this school year, thanks to a grant from the Charleston Excellence in Education Foundation.
Beginning this fall, seventh and eighth grade students will see the popular dance-pad based video game — Dance Dance Revolution — enter the fitness line up in their physical education classes. Unlike other video games that require little or no physical activity, DDR requires participants to stand on a dance platform and move their feet to musical and visual cues.
Because DDR provides a good aerobic workout, many other schools are adding the game to their programs. In fact, all state schools in West Virginia will be adding DDR to their fitness programs in the next few years.
Liz Fletcher, PE/health teacher at Charleston Middle School, researched the idea and submitted the grant proposal to purchase the game to be used in all seventh and eighth grade PE classes.
She said adding the video game to the students’ fitness station circuit will provide a fun physical activity that today’s students can really relate to.
“Our obesity rate overall is fairly low, but we do have some students who don’t like playing traditional sports,” Fletcher said.
“With DDR, we can gear the workout toward them and make them comfortable so they won’t even realize they’re burning calories,” explained Fletcher.
The Charleston Excellence in Education Foundation is a volunteer group that oversees the distribution of funds to Charleston Unit 1 School District teachers.
The 12-member board meets monthly and awards about $30,000 in grants each year.
The foundation accepts grant proposals, like the one submitted by Fletcher, throughout the year and awards grants ranging from up to $2,000 for a small grant and up to $10,000 for a larger project.
Consolidated Communications’ Earning for Learning program is the foundation’s largest source of income. Through the EFL program, Consolidated Communications donates 2.5 percent of its long-distance revenues and 2.5 percent of its Internet revenues quarterly to area schools.
The foundation recently received a check for $3,905 representing Consolidated Communications’ second quarter EFL contribution. Since the district joined the EFL program in 1993, Consolidated Communications has given the district almost $600,000 in EFL funds.
Throughout its service area, Consolidated Communications has given almost $2.9 million to local school districts and education foundations.
Steve Daniels, president of the foundation, said Consolidated’s funding is much appreciated and helps purchase equipment and items that aren’t covered by the school district’s budget.
“Through the Earning for Learning funds we receive, we are able to fund these proposals on a competitive basis. These projects are things that the school district just can’t fund because it doesn’t have the resources to do everything it wants to do. This is a way to reward teachers who are very interested in and excited about a project, like Liz Fletcher,” Daniels said.
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NeoCon Academician wrote on Aug 26, 2008 7:41 AM:
How about something fun and for the guys?
Maybe something like dodgeball? "