New Magnet School Aimed at State’s Obesity Problem

By Robert Kittle

Published: August 25, 2008

While students in the regular PE classes at Summit Parkway Middle School were slowly getting back into the school routine, the sixth graders in the school’s new magnet program hit the ground running. Literally.

The school has created the Academy of Exercise Physiology and Sports Medicine magnet program, the first of its kind in the state. While most middle school students take PE for nine weeks of the year, these students will have it every day, for 45 minutes, for the entire school year.

Debbie Bernhagen, department chair and lead teacher, says the school and the state definitely have an obesity problem. According to the CDC, more than 28 percent of South Carolina adults are obese. She hopes this program will fight that by having students focused on fitness every day.

“Out of that class period, our goal is to get them in 30 minutes of non-stop cardio aerobic activity, and while they’re doing that by the means of these bikes, treadmills and ellipticals, we’re going to be teaching mini-lessons so that they understand the ‘whys’ of what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and how important it is and how they can take this information home to their families and the communities as well,“ she says.

Sixth-grade student Tyler Baker signed up for the program because he’s interested in sports and fitness. In his estimation, students are split pretty evenly between those who are fit and those who are not. “Some kids are in very good shape and some kids just rather play video games and watch TV,“ he says.

But the magnet school is more than just one class of cardio. The students’ math lessons are tied in through the charts and graphs of their workouts and heart-rate levels. Science is tied in through nutrition, energy, anatomy and physiology lessons. They have to create and give presentations to the rest of the class and grammar counts, too. 

The magnet will also reach beyond the classroom. The students’ families also have to agree to be involved.

Bernhagen says, “The kids that are in the magnet program are going to actually fitness-test their siblings and their family members, and together they’re going to set a goal and write goals that they want to achieve. And we’re going to monitor that and hold them accountable to that.“  Families will also come in for seminars on nutrition and fitness on the third Tuesday of every month.

The magnet program is South Carolina’s latest effort to do something about its high rate of childhood obesity. The Student Health and Fitness Act is now in its third year. It requires students in grades K-5 to get at least 30 minutes a day of either PE or physical activity. The act also calls for a full-time nurse at each elementary school, who works closely with PE teachers on student health assessments of body mass index. Schools are also offering more healthful food choices in cafeterias and vending machines.

But the act applies only to elementary students. Bernhagen is hoping the sports medicine magnet will be replicated in other middle schools across the state.

One drawback is the cost of the exercise bikes, treadmills and elliptical trainers. Summit Parkway was able to get a grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield to cover that expense. The sports medicine magnet is for 6th graders only this year, with 21 girls and 37 boys. When they move to 7th grade next year, the program will be in both 6th and 7th, and will then expand to 8th grade the following year.

As for the state’s efforts to combat childhood obesity, Tyler Baker gives his opinion as a 6th grader: “I think they are doing a lot of stuff, but I also think they could do more.“