Funding Opp that can Jumpstart your PE Program!

PE4life is excited to partner with the Churchill Family Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation to provide a one-time partial scholarship to an Introductory Workshop at the PE4life Academy Training Center in Titusville, PA.

In 2006, a school from Tonganoxie, Kansas registered to attend a PE4life Academy Training in Titusville. They chose to attend Titusville because it was similar to their community in terms of size and school demographics. We were pleased to receive this update on their progress.

Hi Tim,

It’s been awhile since we have communicated and I thought it was about time we give you a P.E. update. Since we returned from visiting you in 2006, we have made great strides in unifying our physical education department. We presented to the board about our experience in Titusville and started envisioning what a future physical education program in Tonganoxie should look like. Tim, we are almost there!!!

We continued to discuss improvements and grant possibilities with our administrators. We were able to get help with a district-hired grant writer who had never even heard of the PEP grant. We gave her all kinds of information and we came up with a plan to collect data the following school year. Hopefully, you noticed that we were awarded the PEP grant in 2009. We named our PEP grant "Kansas Adventures" and focused on activities families could do in Kansas. Kids could learn about those activities then encourage their family to get involved. We concentrated on hiking, walking, and CPR/First Aid (high school) the first year, climbing and high adventure (high school) and bicycling the third year.

We now have a fitness room in each building, climbing walls in every gym with a high adventure course in the high school. We have added one full time P.E. teacher in each building giving us a total of 3 teachers per building which allowed us to add classes at the high school and help to address the overcrowded classes at the middle and elementary school. The third teacher at the elementary school has also been able to add a health curriculum for all students and is able to meet twice a month with each class for a standardized health lesson.

We have implemented Wel-Pro, a web-based tracking system for fitness tests so we can keep student information continuous through their years at Tonganoxie schools. We have written a guide for giving fitness tests in our district so that all of us use the same equipment in the same way and all of the testing can have accurate annual comparisons.

We are currently planning our bicycling strategy for year 3 and our district is hoping to pass a bond issue in April for a second elementary school. With administrator approval, there is a fitness room included in the plans as well as a gym that was enlarged to have 3 teaching spaces (3 cross-courts).

As I looked at the new building plans, I couldn't help but think it all started with a trip to Titusville, and the support of our administration believing in us. Thank you again for giving us the opportunity to see your program and know that you still continue to have an impact on our physical education program.

Together in physical education, sincerely,

Ursula Kissinger
Tonganoxie Elementary School
Tonganoxie, KS

Congratulations Tonganoxie School District! Keep up the great work!

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Churchill Family Fund PE4life Introductory Workshop Scholarship
Deadline to Apply: Friday, February 25, 2011
How to Apply: Fill out and submit this application following the directions on the form.

The Titusville Area School District (Titusville, PA) has been recognized as a PE4life Academy. PE4life Academies are exemplary physical education programs that open their doors to others in efforts to inspire and paint a picture of quality programming. If representatives from your school are interested in attending an Introductory Workshop at a PE4life Academy, contact Rachelle Gardner at rgardner@pe4life.org or 816-472-7345.

Learn more about PE4life Academies and our Support Services here.

December Fun at the 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship

December 2010 - The University of Missouri -Kansas City (UMKC) and the Kansas City Sports Commission hosted the NCAA Division 1 Volleyball National Championship at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. In conjunction with the tournament the American Volleyball Coaches Association held a free clinic for children ages 8-13, conducted by the Minority Volleyball Coaches Association.

PE4life was happy to be able to help coordinate this awesome event! More than 300 children attended the clinic and nearly a third of them were from schools that have trained with PE4life! In addition to a draw-string bag, t-shirt, water bottle and volleyball, each student also received one complimentary ticket to the NCAA championship game that evening (did I mention this was all free?!).

Here’s what some of the attendees had to say about the event:

"I was very happy to help coordinate this amazing opportunity for our PE4life schools. It was great to see how dedicated some of our teachers are because they chose to use their personal time to take the kids. I was thrilled with the responses after the clinic. The students were able to learn a great deal from the clinic and, along with the teachers and parents, were so appreciative for this opportunity. I am very thankful to the volleyball coaches at the clinic and WIN for KC for allowing PE4life to be a part of this activity." - Ashley Davies, Program Support Specialist, PE4ilfe

“Our PTA paid for our bus which was awesome so it allowed more kids to come. We took 35 kids from Silver City. Ms. Belohavy, SPED teacher came with me- she was awesome. Also, I had 2 parent volunteers come. The coaches were fantastic and really patient and kind to our kids who ranged all over the place with their skills. It was nice to have a very diverse group of coaches for our kids. It was such a rewarding and fun experience not only for our students, but for the adults. It was such a great time and thanks to PE4life for the information and the Minority Coaches Association for all of the coaches helping at the clinic.” - Stephanie Dickson, Teacher, Silver City Elementary, Kansas City, KS

“It was so much fun! I had fun cheering at the game. The coaches were nice. It was cool being one of the only boys at the clinic.” 3rd grader, Silver City Elementary, Kansas City, KS

“The coaches were awesome! I had a good time at the game. They play really fast. I use the water bottle all the time and I can’t wait to play outside with my volleyball.”- 5th grader, Silver City Elementary, Kansas City, KS

“It was really fun and cool to do something different. Ms. Walsh (Kerri Walsh- pro beach volleyball player) said some very inspirational things.” 5th grader, Silver City Elementary, Kansas City, KS

“It was a really great experience for the girls. They learned a lot of new volleyball drills and they had fun at the game. Many of them had never been down to that area so they enjoyed the experience of seeing everything.” - Mike Fitzgibbons, Teacher, Argentine Middle School, Kansas City, KS

“Thank you so much for this opportunity! The kids really enjoyed it but it was great for me too. When Kerri Walsh came out I was in shock- very cool!” Amanda Ruffin, Teacher, Noble Prentis Elementary- Caruthers Elementary, Kansas City, KS

Thanks to all who made this a great event and thanks for letting PE4life be a part of it!