Southeastern Greene upgrades fitness equipment
What was once just another empty room in Southeastern Greene School District’s former Penn Pitt Elementary School is now full of state-of-the-art fitness equipment that could put the best spa to shame. Secondary physical education teacher Vicki Brooks, elementary school physical education teacher Linda Shultz and football coach George Messich recently unveiled the equipment. Shultz and Messich also are the district’s co-athletic directors, and they recently completed training on the use of the equipment, which was delivered in late February to the school’s multi-use room.
It is Brooks’ students who are expected to use the equipment the most.
The district received about $200,000 worth of fitness equipment and accessories through the National School Fitness Foundation (NSFF) of Utah. The school district has with the foundation an agreement in which the district rents the machines from a supplier, Canyon Creek, and the foundation reimburses that cost in exchange for data on students’ use. The foundation, Brooks said, will use that data for a health-research project.
At the end of this three-year project, the school district will own the equipment.
The goal of what will be a strength and cardiovascular-fitness program incorporated into the regular physical education classes is healthier, stronger students. The seventh- through 12th-graders will visit the Penn Pitt fitness center three times a week and continue with usual physical education the other two days.
“We know that a muscle in a fit state will burn calories at a maximum rate and be used at peak performance. Strength training is for muscles that support bones and the diaphragm that supports the lungs and the heart that supports blood flow. This is cardiovascular fitness combined with strength training fitness,” Brooks said.
She said she might start to do some pre-evaluations with the students, but they’ll really begin using the equipment in the fall.
For now, school district officials are ironing out the scheduling and staffing details on opening the room to the public this summer.
Brooks will collect a variety of data on the students, who will not be identified by name. She will do pre- and post-evaluations and track their progress. To help Brooks collect this data, the school district received numerous accessories, including eight heart rate monitors. The district also received a computer and first aid equipment, including a portable, automatic heart defibrillator.
The workout includes one minute of strength training on a piece of equipment, 15 seconds’ leeway to get to a stationary step, one minute of cardiovascular stair-stepping and 15 seconds to get to the next piece of equipment. It all begins with warm-up stretching and ends with cool-down walking. The workout is timed and monitored, keeping in mind each student has individual needs.
Brooks said it takes about 40 minutes to complete the workout, although activity could vary as a student’s fitness improves.
“The benefits of this program will be felt as they get muscle strength and their hearts are working more efficiently. They will feel better and they will be more alert,” Brooks said.
She said long-term benefits also are possible as the students get into the habit of exercise and continue that habit into adulthood.
Shultz said although no elementary students will be involved, she will help out with faculty and public use of the center. The school district has Hammer-brand machines and free weights for power lifting by the athletes, but the Penn Pitt center also will be made available to them.
They said the school district has put a lot of emphasis into physical fitness and supports physical education classes for all students as part of the curriculum.
They and Brooks commended Superintendent Dr. Philip Savini Jr. and the school board for working with NSFF. They said with pride that Southeastern Greene was the first school district in the area to take advantage of the foundation’s offer.
“This is all top-quality and top-of-the-line. I feel very fortunate that we got this,” Shultz said.
Central Greene school board recently took the first step toward a similar agreement with NSFF.
Shultz said the students and community can’t help but benefit from using the equipment for better fitness.
“This is something for everybody to use for their general health and well-being. We’re looking for that and general fitness,” Shultz said.
Messich was especially pleased that the community will be able to use the equipment in a school district as small and rural as Southeastern Greene.
“You’d be surprised how many people go to Washington, Uniontown and Morgantown for a fitness center, and now they will be able to come here and it will be first class,” he said.
They said the school district also has a video-indexing software program that can be used along with the equipment to show students the progress they are making in their workouts and also help them see how they can best do the exercises.
The center includes 24 pieces of equipment, although all of the equipment is not included in the basic workout that is timed for the students. The featured equipment is the Universal-brand fitness machines that are adjustable and work with a pulley system of resistance weights. Each machine targets a different muscle area. For example, one machine targets abdominal muscles, while another targets hip muscles. The center also has treadmills and stationary bicycles.
Everything is arranged in a circle on rubber mats.