Focus on TUSD - March 2007

Drachman Awarded Wellness Grant
Students at Drachman Primary Magnet School are kicking up their heels after their physical education program won a $5,000 wellness grant.

Drachman's Superintendent's Challenge award was one of eight that the Arizona Department of Education gave out in the state through the Local Wellness Policy State Agency Grant. The funds are earmarked for improving children's eating and physical activity habits. The grant criterion also calls for the money to be used for a pilot program and to serve as resource for the district.

Elisa Busby, who has been the Drachman physical education teacher for 11 years, said the school would use the grant to purchase Coordinated Approach to Child Health materials, which promote physical activity and healthy food choices, as well as discouraging tobacco use among elementary school children.

"We hope that the CATCH program will be a viable program for TUSD schools as they implement their wellness policies," Busby said.

CATCH provides materials for school nutrition, classroom curriculum, physical education and family interaction. As the largest school-based health promotion program in the nation, CATCH has demonstrated that eating foods high in saturated fat and physical inactivity can be reversed, according to the program's Web site.

Busby's program already demonstrates a commitment to the CATCH goals. She offers a monthly nutrition lesson with corresponding activities and promotes healthy activities such as hand washing and eating from the five groups in the Food Pyramid— fruits, dairy, grains, meats and other protein sources, and vegetables.

She encourages students to develop enjoyable physical activities they would pursue after they leave school. At Drachman, she asks students to walk around the playground at noon. For every 10 miles, they receive a paper "foot" on a wall. They also play golf through the First Tee program and play games involving balls. "They can choose a sport later," Busby said.

When first-graders arrived Monday for physical education class, Busby told them, "A big jump with a soft landing is better for your bones. It protects your legs and body." She practiced this technique with them before dividing them into three physical activity stations: hula hoops, bouncing balls and wall climbing.

"It's fun because you can start over if you fall," said Derrick Perkins as his legs and arms searched for protruding holds on an outside courtyard climbing wall. "I'm a little scared, but not a lot."

Next in line, Arianna Escamilla observed, "I like doing this. You have to think where to go next."

At the hula hoop station, Amaya Acuna demonstrated her skill at twirling a bright blue hoop around her neck and waist without letting it drop to the ground. "Hula hoops are my favorite," she said. "It's fun jumping rope with it."

After the tired class reassembled inside, Busby told them, "When your heart beats faster, you get more blood to your brain and that helps you think better and get smarter. That's a good thing."

And besides that, it was fun, the students told her.

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations

TUSD - Proud Supporter of Small Classes

Unless otherwise noted, all photos in the March issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations.

The deadline to submit material for the April Focus is Friday, April 6. The Focus will be published Friday, April 13. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the Focus Online Submission Form.