[Vision2020] Now is the Time!

[TIM RIGSBY]

Now is the Time!

Since 1997, Physical Education has been all but eliminated from Idaho public 
schools because of the removal of Physical Education requirements for high 
school graduation.  Since 1997, schools have been faced with the option to 
either eliminate or drastically reduce the time spent in a Physical 
Education setting.  No Child Left Behind, ISAT, and other testing, have put 
Physical Education on the back burner.  Now is the time to make the change, 
to ask your school administrators and your state government to REQUIRE daily 
physical education for students in grades K-6 and a graduation requirement 
for middle and high school students.

Recommendations from the National Association of Sport and Physical 
Education (NASPE) conclude that elementary age students should participate 
in 150 minutes of structured physical activity per week.  That translates 
into five thirty-minute sessions in a Physical Education setting.

According to a CDC study titled School Health Policies and Programs Study 
(SHPPS), only 8% of all elementary schools were meeting the recommended 150 
minutes per week.  Middle schools reported that only 6.4% and high schools 
reported that only 5.8% received the recommended 225 minutes of physical 
activity for secondary students.

Now is the time to change the requirements for Physical Education and to 
promote a healthier America.  Please support your students and teachers at 
the State Board of Education’s Physical Education hearing on Wednesday 
September 14th, 2005 at the Lewis-Clark State College Conference Center in 
Lewiston, Idaho.  The hearing will begin at 7:00 p.m.

No Child Left on their Behind!

Tim Rigsby
Boise, Idaho


Revolution is not a word but an application; it is not war but peace; it 
does not weaken, but strengthens. Revolution does not cause separation; it 
generates togetherness.
-John Africa, Strategic Revolution

_________________________________________________________________
On the road to retirement? Check out MSN Life Events for advice on how to 
get there! http://lifeevents.msn.com/category.aspx?cid=Retirement