DURHAM, N.C. – Students at Watts Magnet Elementary School in Durham don’t have a lot of down time during P.E. class. Teacher Stephanie Brennan starts them off with a warm-up jog around the gym followed by stretching and sit-ups.

 

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After some brief instructions, this group of fifth graders launches into a rousing game of speed ball. Brennan credits the Sports, Play and Active Recreation for Kids, or SPARK, program for bringing more variety into her P.E. class. 

 

“I tend to teach what the kids like at the time,” she said.   “This year, I have more focus.”

 

North Carolina’s SPARK program was funded by a grant from the Health and Wellness Trust Fund and was started in eight high needs counties in the state, including Durham County.   Brennan is one of 275 elementary and middle school teachers statewide that have been trained with research-based lesson plans, warm-ups, games and activities to teach physical education.  

 

Activities are learned in stages with specific objectives. And best of all, kids get moving right away.

 

“The game we played today is a prime example,” said Brennan.   “There are three rules to the game. I explained the rules, we’re up, we’re moving. And then they get to play for 20 to 30 minutes.”

 

And SPARK has paid off. Not only do the students at Watts enjoy playing, but they’ve already improved their fitness scores on things like body mass index and flexibility.

 

“Another goal of ours is to tie physical activity improvement with low absenteeism and grades,” said Judy Martino, grant program specialist for the North Carolina Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, which administers the SPARK program. “We think that we can collect quite a bit of data to supply our legislators.”

 

Martino says there have been challenges in getting PE teachers to attend daylong training sessions. And although the program is offered at no charge, some school districts have been reluctant to get involved.

 

But if these fifth graders are any indication, the program offers just the SPARK that schools need to keep kids healthy and fit.

 

For more information about SPARK, visit www.sparkpe.org

For more information about the North Carolina Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, visit www.ncaahperd.org