Board hears PEP grant update

OXFORD HILLS —  The SAD 17 school district's Carol M. White Physical Education Grant has provided professional development, curriculum innovation and two new school fitness centers in its first year, reported district staff during the November 19 school board meeting.

The $1.2 million PEP grant was awarded to the district last year. In 2012, $643,000 was spent, reported grant coordinator Lance Belanger.

The grant funded professional development for physical educators, including training on heart rate monitors, curriculum support workshops and conferences, Belanger told the board.

Health Education Department Head Jen Cash told the board the district's physical education curriculum had been completely reworked.

Most activities were removed from the curriculum in favor of concepts, Cash said. Teachers could decide how to apply the concepts to individual classes. 

"We're trying to get out of the activity base and focus more on cardiovascular," she told the board.

The grant is also funding an after school fitness program at the elementary level, District Health Coordinator Pat Carson reported.

The showpiece of the PEP grant is new, state of the art fitness rooms at the high school and middle school that are used for instruction as well as student and staff recreational fitness.

A new fitness center director, hired through the grant, will educate students and staff how to properly use different pieces of equipment to meet their health goals, Cash said.

She estimated about 50 or 60 students and staff were using the room after school.

A smaller fitness center is being set up at the middle school, Cash reported. It is set to open in early January.

Belanger told the board the district had more than $400,000 from the grant to spend next year strengthening current initiatives and starting new ones.