The Tyrone Area School District has entered into a lease with Dollar Bank Leasing Corporation to purchase fitness equipment for the elementary school, with the cost being reimbursed through a national fitness program for school children.
“We visited the Philipsburg (Osceola) School District where they already have the program in place and the kids seemed excited about it,” said Cathy Peachey, director of administration at Tyrone.
The program she is talking about is the National School Fitness Foundation’s L.I.F.T. (Leadership in Fitness Training) America Program. It is designed to equip participating elementary schools, grades K-6, with nine aerobic stepping platforms and nine age-appropriate, resistive-based machines. The equipment was chosen after extensive research with a number of fitness manufacturers and health experts, including the Foundation’s National Scientific Advisory Board.
According to information posted on its web site, the Foundation feels the L.I.F.T. America “Super Circuit” includes the optimum selection of exercise equipment that would be both fun, as well as measurably health-promoting, for younger participants.
The machines were built for the National School Fitness Foundation by Hoist Fitness Systems. They are recommended for students in grades 3-6 but can also be used by younger students if it’s deemed appropriate.
The foundation promotes a secondary schools program like the one in place in the Philipsburg-Osceola School District. Peachy explained Tyrone opted for the elementary program for one particular reason.
“The facilities space requirement at the secondary level is 1,500 square feet and we don’t have that available in the district,” said Peachy. “At the elementary level, there is no space requirement. A lot of the equipment is similar to the type which is installed in high schools.
“We will be able to pay all the costs associated with the equipment through the L.I.F.T. America program,” explained Peachy. “We anticipate we’ll be able to install the equipment during the summer and it will be operational during the 2004-2005 school year.”
The machines included in the program include: seated dip, mid row, bench press, shoulder press, seated leg press, squat press, back/hip extension, ab crunch and a chin up machine.
In addition to the equipment, the National School Fitness Foundation provides participating elementary schools with more than 150 health-enhancing fitness activities that promote hand-eye coordination, agility, speed, balance, team and individual play.
The L.I.F.T. America Program teaches students to control their bodies and work with others in a movement-based environment. Students develop balance, coordination, teamwork, creativity, agility and aerobic capacity as they participate in any one of the 150-plus games. Based on the celebrated SPARK (Sports, Play & Active Recreation for Kids) Program, the games form the basis of group activity for grades K-2.
The National School Fitness Foundation was founded in March 2000 and is a nonprofit organization. It has provided its program to approximately 500 schools in 18 states. An estimated 400,000 students have access to the L.I.F.T. America Program.
Last month, the Tyrone Area School Board approved entering into a 36-month lease for the amount of $112,395.70 to finance the program. The district will pay an interest rate of 3.3 percent and will receive reimbursement from the National School Fitness Foundation.
