6/13/2005
Redlands District Plans To Wed PE With Video Games
By Selicia Kennedy-Ross, Staff Writer
REDLANDS - In an effort to boost student health and fitness, the school district is turning to a new form of physical education video games.
Redlands Unified School district officials are working with Redlands Community Hospital to bring "exertainment,' the latest form of fitness in a mix of video games and exercise, to at least one school by the fall.
Unlike traditional video games, players must move physically to interact with the game. Exertainment reaches an audience that wouldn't normally go to the gym or become involved in competitive sports.
Sue Buster, director of elementary education, said the district is looking for a suitable elementary school to host the program where students could use the games under the supervision of a PE teacher. The district is also looking for corporate sponsors to help.
"We'd like to see how kids take to it, especially kids who are not involved in league sports like soccer,' Buster said. "We really jumped on the idea of looking at what children love to do and what gets them to move. These games are fun and engaging and keeps them on task, competing with themselves.'
Using the exertainment center, which would be equipped with games like "Dance Dance Revolution,' would count as PE class time for students, Buster said. The center would have enough games to serve between 20 and 35 students, who would rotate through during a session, she said.
Physical education in the Redlands district is lumped in with enrichment subjects, like art and music. Each subject is taught for one-third of the year with PE taught by roving teachers. Administrators hope to hire after-school personnel to staff the center when the PE teacher has gone onto the next site, Buster said.
The cost to set up an exertainment center will fall between $10,000 and $50,000, for equipment, games, a security system, video monitors and, if necessary, a portable classroom.
Linda Dutton, director of business development for Redlands Community Hospital, said the hospital is also trying to work with the school district and Beaver Medical Group to open local exertainment centers. The hospital began pursuing the project after local clinicians began noticing children with obesity-related conditions like hypertension, Dutton said.
There are 9million overweight and obese children in the United States, and the number of obese elementary school students, the 6- to 11-year-olds, has tripled since the 1970s. The Sun's four-day series "Table to Grave,' published May 1-4, explored the costs and consequences of childhood obesity.
The partnership wants to set up an exertainment center, or "gym,' in a central location outside of a school in the next three months, Dutton said.
"If kids participate in PE at school they can earn something like 'bonus bucks' they can use to 'buy' their way into these clinics,' Dutton said. "This way its not economically segregated, so everyone has a chance to participate. They can also use the bucks to buy the games and use them at home.'
The partnership is now trying to secure $50,000, enough to fund two gyms, and is also looking for a grant to help students without transportation get to the center.
REDLANDS - In an effort to boost student health and fitness, the school district is turning to a new form of physical education video games.
Redlands Unified School district officials are working with Redlands Community Hospital to bring "exertainment,' the latest form of fitness in a mix of video games and exercise, to at least one school by the fall.
Unlike traditional video games, players must move physically to interact with the game. Exertainment reaches an audience that wouldn't normally go to the gym or become involved in competitive sports.
Sue Buster, director of elementary education, said the district is looking for a suitable elementary school to host the program where students could use the games under the supervision of a PE teacher. The district is also looking for corporate sponsors to help.
"We'd like to see how kids take to it, especially kids who are not involved in league sports like soccer,' Buster said. "We really jumped on the idea of looking at what children love to do and what gets them to move. These games are fun and engaging and keeps them on task, competing with themselves.'
Using the exertainment center, which would be equipped with games like "Dance Dance Revolution,' would count as PE class time for students, Buster said. The center would have enough games to serve between 20 and 35 students, who would rotate through during a session, she said.
Physical education in the Redlands district is lumped in with enrichment subjects, like art and music. Each subject is taught for one-third of the year with PE taught by roving teachers. Administrators hope to hire after-school personnel to staff the center when the PE teacher has gone onto the next site, Buster said.
The cost to set up an exertainment center will fall between $10,000 and $50,000, for equipment, games, a security system, video monitors and, if necessary, a portable classroom.
Linda Dutton, director of business development for Redlands Community Hospital, said the hospital is also trying to work with the school district and Beaver Medical Group to open local exertainment centers. The hospital began pursuing the project after local clinicians began noticing children with obesity-related conditions like hypertension, Dutton said.
There are 9million overweight and obese children in the United States, and the number of obese elementary school students, the 6- to 11-year-olds, has tripled since the 1970s. The Sun's four-day series "Table to Grave,' published May 1-4, explored the costs and consequences of childhood obesity.
The partnership wants to set up an exertainment center, or "gym,' in a central location outside of a school in the next three months, Dutton said.
"If kids participate in PE at school they can earn something like 'bonus bucks' they can use to 'buy' their way into these clinics,' Dutton said. "This way its not economically segregated, so everyone has a chance to participate. They can also use the bucks to buy the games and use them at home.'
The partnership is now trying to secure $50,000, enough to fund two gyms, and is also looking for a grant to help students without transportation get to the center.
