Roosebelt Battles Obesity — With Help from Warriors
Reported by : Linda Sandsmark : 6/4/06
Childhood obesity and the decline of children’s overall health are national issues, and one San Leandro school recently received new fitness equipment to help combat this problem.
Through a $15,000 grant from the CLIF ZBaR Company, which produces healthy snack foods, Roosevelt was able to install a set of permanent outdoor equipment on which to do pull-ups, sit-ups, pushups, step-ups, climbing and more. It is the only school to receive such equipment so far in the Bay Area.
Principal Judith Cameron said that parent Evelyn Gonzalez wrote a proposal for Project Fit America (PFA), a non-profit charity that donates health and fitness programs to schools. PFA was able to link financial sponsorship (in this case from CLIF ZBaR) to Roosevelt, as it has done with some 500 other schools since 1991. PFA also provides training, lesson plans for health classes, and indoor fitness equipment as well.
An official kick-off celebration was held on May 17, including a visit from muscular Golden State Warriors’ mascot “Thunder.” Not only did Thunder do dozens of pushups and pull-ups for the entire student body, he did some break dancing and walked upside down on his hands across the length of the new play area.
Christopher Swanner of CLIF ZBaR came from Berkeley to the ceremony.
“Take full control of the equipment and use it at every opportunity,” Swanner advised the students.
Roosevelt P.E. teacher Kathy Tronvig encouraged kids to come on the weekends and teach their families to use it as well. The structure has padding beneath it and is accessible to the handicapped. District Maintenance staff, led by Mike Murphy, installed the equipment. Mayor Shelia Young was in attendance at the ceremony, taking a moment to compare biceps with Thunder.
“I’ve lost some weight recently. Maybe you’ll catch me over here on a Saturday,” said Young. She encouraged the youngsters to treat the equipment as if it was their own — including keeping it clean and picking up trash.
For more information on Project Fit America, see
www.projectfit america.org or call toll free (800) 711-4348. Roosevelt School is located at 951 Dowling Blvd., San Leandro.
Article
Linear Mode
