Bedford YMCA teams up with teens for P.E.

By Christa Desrets

Published: September 18, 2008

Fifteen Liberty High school freshmen climbed out of the school bus Thursday morning and onto a path behind the Bedford Area Family YMCA.

Downhill, the grass still damp with dew, they continued past briar bushes and into what school and Y officials hope will be a lifetime interest in fitness.

At the Y’s low ropes course, the students substituted their traditional physical education class for a trip into real-world physical activities.

“It’s better because we don’t have this at school,” said 14-year-old Olivia Minnix. She said she’s excited to learn how to use equipment at the Y in the coming weeks.

“There’s all sorts of things they can choose here,” said Mary Jo Boone, executive director of the Bedford Y. “They’ll be exposed to all the different aerobic-type classes … They’re getting comfortable with it, so they won’t be afraid.”

Students on Thursday split into groups to focus on the Y’s outdoor activities, which won’t be as much fun in the winter. In addition to the ropes course, another group climbed a 45-foot-tall rock wall and played Frisbee golf.

Last week, the same class played baseball and hula-hoop games, said Liberty student Josh Mabery.

“It was pretty fun,” he said. “It gives us something to do other than be at the (school) gym.”

His classmate Emma Tibbs agreed.

“It’s something different,” she said.

About 240 freshmen from Liberty make the period-long field trip an average of once a week, said Lori Mattson, ninth grade health and PE teacher at LHS.

About a year ago, the school heard from a parent who thought the school should use the Y facilities as an alternative to traditional PE games, she said. So, the school contacted Boone, and they brainstormed ideas for what became the Fit for Life program.

Liberty freshmen began traveling to the Y branch and learning how to work out. Soon, the program spread to Staunton River High School, where students visited the Y in Moneta.

This year, Boone hopes to use a $700,000, three-year federal grant through the U.S. Department of Education to further expand the program to Jefferson Forest High, plus middle and elementary schools in the county.

The grant was the only one awarded in Virginia, according to the DOE. The Y receives $300,000 this year, and another $400,000 over the following two years.

“We were just trying to keep it afloat (last year),” she said. “This year, we’re more intentional about it.

The students took fitness tests before beginning the program, and they’ll be tested again mid-year and at the end of the year for any improvement, she said.

Liberty Principal Cherie Whitehurst said that last year’s group had become noticeably more confident with the Y’s equipment by the end of the school year.

“The students seem more engaged,” she said. “They really grow during that time.”