Physical education: Electronic athletics

Touch of high-tech added to school district gym classes

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Two students at Miller Middle School jump onto a mat hooked to a television screen and begin jogging ferociously in place.

The goal is to see who can make the most steps in 10 seconds, and each student in the class gets a shot at it.

The video game also allows students to enter a virtual race in which they must run, jump and dodge obstacles. Whatever the student does on the mat, the character mirrors the movements on-screen.

"The kids love it. They can, run, jump and slide," said Hayden Ross, the secondary physical education project facilitator for the Clark County School District. "We're trying to modernize P.E."

The activity was part of Miller Middle School's Oct. 21 P.E. Olympics day, held once a month during the students' regular physical education period.

The October P.E. Olympics differed from previous months. A group of volunteers from Niketown, located in the Forum Shops at Caesars, was on hand to lead the students through a variety of physical activities. The session was part of a promotional event for the Niketown 5K Run, which took place on Nov. 4 at Fremont Street.

The Niketown 5K Run served to raise money for physical education classes in the Clark County School District. All entry fees for the event went back to the schools of the entrants' choice.

Miller Middle School students worked through an obstacle course, pushed one another around in human curling, ran a quarter-mile baton relay, tossed Frisbees through a set of hoops and participated in other events, totaling 12 stations in all.

Ross said Miller Middle School was chosen because of its outstanding physical education program, which highlights cardiovascular health and cross-curricular activities.

Ross said the curriculum for the P.E. Olympics is available to all district schools. She said she hopes other schools will implement the program.

"We have one of the model P.E. programs. It's not just old P.E. anymore," said Mary Ann Hopper, the department chairwoman for physical education at Miller Middle School.

Hopper said the activities worked on the students' body core, upper body and cardiovascular areas. The activities ranged from serious to silly, such as the pumpkin toss, during which students attempted to land hoops around a pumpkin, Hopper said.

At the beginning of the year, the students are split into groups and are assigned a country. The students research the country at the library, gathering statistics such as life expectancy and literacy, then design their countries' flags.

The students march out at the beginning of the Olympic day events to the Olympic theme.

Liz Lopez, in-store marketing coordinator for Niketown Las Vegas, said the company's main goal with the 5K run and adopt a school program is to educate. Lopez said Niketown also chooses other area schools to adopt and volunteer at on a regular basis.

"They're young. We want to educate them to be active. Obesity is a problem in America," Lopez said.

Lopez said that last year, the Niketown 5K Run raised $60,000 for Clark County schools and welcomed 2,000 runners. The event currently takes place in Chicago, Honolulu, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, Denver and Portland, Ore.

Seventh-grader Donja Johnson said she had planned to participate in the 5K run. Her favorite activity during the P.E. Olympics was the baton relay.

"I like to run and pace my speed," she said. "It was a challenge."

Maddie Hardy, an eighth-grader, said she enjoyed the stepping activity because it was a video game. Maddie registered 70 steps in 10 seconds.

"It's a good experience," she said. "We get to do a variety of different activities that we don't normally get to do."

The draw for eighth-grader Steven Pollex also was the baton relay event. He said he appreciates the P.E. Olympics.

"It's something different that a lot of people don't get to do," Steven said.