(reprinted from the December 7, 2007 Indianapolis Star by Cathy Kightlinger)

Indian Creek Elementary School student Emily Flandermeyer is a day away from achieving one of her fitness goals.

Fifth-graders from Skiles Test Elementary School run along with a teacher after school. They braved the snow as part of their training for the Jingle Bell Run.

Saturday, she will be one of about 85 fifth-graders from Lawrence Township Schools to run in Indianapolis’ Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis. Indian Creek, Brook Park and Skiles Test students have been training for the run with the help of adults in an eight-week after-school program.

“It’s been hard sometimes, but overall it’s been fun,” said Emily, 10, who has been training for the event with other fifth-graders for weeks. “I’ve learned how to set goals and kind of work my way to achieve them, and never give up.”

Flandermeyer and the other young runners are part of a larger Lawrence Township Schools project called My Community Gets Healthy, which is aimed at encouraging students to make their health and fitness a priority.

The Lawrence Township Schools program comes at a time when heath experts are spotlighting obesity in the United States, and statistics show that the proportion of Americans who are obese has doubled among adults and tripled among children since 1980. Seventy-two million adults are considered obese.

Some of the township’s physical education teachers already have the technology — including software and hand-held computers — that allows students’ fitness testing data to be compared with national results. Students can learn how their fitness levels, including body mass index, muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance, stacks up against others their age.

 

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