Thousands of Lawrence schoolchildren are in the running for free swimming pool passes thanks to a new program aimed at getting them off their little tushes.
Kick the can, hide-and-seek and Red Rover, yesteryear games that kept children running and jumping, have been virtually replaced by PlayStations, Game Boys and Nintendos ... electronic fun that might exercise the mind and fingers but not the body.
That trend has fitness instructors worried the sedentary games are putting children on course for a lifetime of bad health habits.
"Learning fitness habits at an early age is very important," said Dorothy Kempf, physical education instructor at Wakarusa Valley School. "But P.E. classes are a very small part of a student's life, and we're trying to encourage them to do physical things on a daily basis."
Kempf hatched the idea for an after-school fitness program that could involve students in grades one through six, all 5,400 of them in Lawrence, and their families. A task force on physical activity and obesity from the Douglas County Health Department's Community Health Improvement Plan approved the program, and Get Moving! was organized. In mid-November the new CHIP program partnered with the 16 elementary schools in the Lawrence school district.
Each physical education student is given a card with 25 lines for listing after-school exercise activities. These can include walking the dog, bike riding, yoga, dance, skating, swimming, trampoline jumping, tennis ... nearly anything physical qualifies.
Ryne Bretz, 9, a Schwegler School fourth-grader, bikes out to the Clinton Dam and walks the family dogs with his mother, Diana.
"When it's not real cold we take a bike ride before school when there's no traffic," young Bretz said. "And sometimes after school I take Maui and Shelby (the family dogs) to the back yard and hit tennis balls with a ball bat that they chase and bring back."
The activity must last 30 minutes to qualify for Get Moving! points.
To encourage adult participation, double points are awarded when the student exercises with a family member who also initials the card. When all 25 lines are filled, the card is turned in at P.E. class and the student is awarded a tiny plastic foot to wear on sneakers.
Any student turning in four cards by April 15, the end of this year's program, will receive a one-day pass to either of Lawrence's swimming pools.
Resources for the program were donated by CHIP, Hallmark Cards and Lawrence Parks and Recreation.
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