[October 23, 2011] Local schools receive "Be Active" grants Tweet Oct 23, 2011 (The Reidsville Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Williamsburg Elementary School is encouraging its students to be active after they, along with Reidsville High School, received a $5,000 grant from Be Active North Carolina. One stipulation of the grant requires the schools to host a celebration, which is exactly what they were doing on Friday morning. Students line-danced, learned zumba and danced along with Rockingham County Schools mascot Rockstar. Reidsville High School football players and a drum line both came to help teach the children to be active. The football players went as far as to dance the motions of the Macarena while doing pushups, a difficult challenge which got the students moving as well. Staff members were very excited to see Gary Gardner, the CEO of Be Active North Carolina, come and participate in the event. Physical education instructor Susie Parks said in addition to the Be Active celebration they also were celebrating their EOG scores from last year and raising money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The children had a lot to celebrate on Friday. Parks and Williamsburg Elementary School Principal Erselle Young explained with the grant money they are purchasing Pathematics, a board painted outside which is similar to hopscotch but teaches both addition and multiplication to students and has them moving while learning. Young said they are also implementing a program called "Get Sweaty." Teachers can go to getsweaty.org and pull up exercise videos to do in the classroom. The videos can range from 15 minutes down to 60-second clips, which get the students moving between subjects. "If we can get these kids more active, they'll feel better," Young said. "If they feel better, their brains are working better and they perform better." Young is hoping by May, the school will have proven statistics to show how being active helped improve student's grades. The school also received exercise equipment including treadmills and elliptical machines to create a gym for its teachers and staff members. "We want to model what we're trying to do," Young said. Young said even though the grant is making a large contribution to the cause, the school's program wouldn't be the same without Parks leading their P.E. classes. ___ (c)2011 The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, N.C.) Visit The Reidsville Review (Reidsville, N.C.) at www.reidsvillereview.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]