Schools offer outlet for physical fitness

Pools, tracks, equipment available to adults

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Inside, outside and in the water, adults are taking advantage of amenities at public school facilities to beat the winter blahs and keep in shape.

The Carlynton High School swimming pool is open for family swims each Tuesday and Thursday evening. Admission is $1 for students and $2 for adults.

South Fayette opens its fitness center to the public for a fee after school and on weekends.

And when the ground is not covered with snow or ice, high school stadium tracks are open for walkers and joggers in most districts during non-school hours and even under the stadium lights at night.

The one-third mile paved walking track behind Aiken Elementary School in Green Tree is a busy place.

The track is closed from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., during pupils' lunch time. But anyone else may walk or jog around the two ball fields and enjoy the park-like atmosphere. And lights brighten the trail from dusk to 11 p.m.

Funding from three sources paid for the lights, which were installed in April. Duquesne Light Co. contributed $15,000 from its Bright Lights program. The Green Tree Rotary secured $15,000 from the Dr. Leonard A. and Mary Jane Schafer Foundation. The borough of Green Tree paid for installing the lights and will clear the track of snow in the winter.

"It is more than crowded four nights a week," said Jim Cromie, spokesman for the Keystone Oaks School District.

It's a little more formal, but the South Fayette Township School District opens its entire fitness center to the community.

Prospective members must fill out forms and take part in a training session and an evaluation before using the facilities.

The fitness center has 21 weight machines and 10 cardiovascular machines, such as treadmills, steppers and stationary bikes. Many machines offer no- or low-impact exercise for older people or people with medical conditions. Some of the machines are arranged in pods and many face a mirrored wall. There are step boxes for exercisers to follow a circuit to get a continuous cardiovascular workout.

Showers and lockers are available.

Vic Iagnemma is director of the fitness center as well as a teacher of health and physical education at the high school. The fitness center is in its fifth year of operation. And the entire physical education department has been involved in planning and running the center.

"We had such a wonderful facility and wanted to make as much use of it as possible and to give back to the community," Mr. Iagnemma said. "We have a fair amount of senior citizens because it's free to them."

South Fayette residents may buy a three-month, six-month or annual membership for $45, $75 or $120 respectively. Corresponding memberships for nonresidents cost $60, $105 or $180.

The Fitness Center is open to students and staff from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The community can use the Fitness Center from 6 to 7:10 a.m. on school days and from 2:15 to 8 p.m. after school, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends.

Mr. Iagnemma said the Fitness Center had 60 members in October. Employees use the facility because it's very convenient to come before or after school. Parents join because they hear about it from their children.

Membership has grown primarily through word of mouth, but also from the district's Web site, http://www.southfayette.org/.

Each sports season, the district features guest speakers who have addressed a variety of topics ranging from nutrition to the mental aspect of sport. Although these workshops have targeted athletes and their parents, anyone from the community at large may attend as well.

The district also has a wellness committee to provide information and promote healthful lifestyles among its employees. Services include free cholesterol tests and blood pressure screenings.

The high school cafeteria is offering more healthy choices, such as turkey wraps and fresh fruit, and it has only one vending machine. The Fitness Center has no vending machines.

"I think we're making a conscious effort across the board with our students and our community [to have healthy lifestyles]," Mr. Iagnemma said.

Good health seems to be good government as well.

Although the state Department of Education has not issued any directives for schools to use their facilities to promote healthy lifestyles, Public Law 108-265, Section 204, requires that all schools participating in the National School Lunch Program develop local wellness policies by the first day of school after July 1.

The department has developed wellness policy guidelines in collaboration with the Pennsylvania School Boards Association in an attempt to stem the national obesity crisis. They include community-oriented goals as well as goals within the school environment.

The guidelines include:

"Schools will partner with parents and community members to institute programs that support nutrition education and physical activity.

"Students and the community will have access to physical activity facilities outside school hours."

Many communities throughout the state are using school facilities for physical activity, and schools are forming partnerships with outside businesses as well.

The department is taking a coordinated approach to address the obesity issue by working not only with the state's departments of health, agriculture and public welfare, but with the Governor's Cabinet on Children and Families and nonprofit organizations such as the American Cancer Society and Actions for Healthy Kids.

The appeal of these facilities spans all age groups.

Jean Moyer, 66, exercises at a local exercise club three days a week and walks between 6 and 8 p.m. the other two days inside the Seneca Valley Intermediate School in Butler County.

"You got yourself in this shape. Now you have to get yourself out of it," she said.

She started this two-pronged exercise program more than two years ago after a knee operation. Mrs. Moyer has high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Wolf-Parkinson-Wright, a condition that affects the heart. She wants to get her weight down to 200 pounds, and has six pounds to go.

She lives across from the school. She walks at a brisk pace around the intermediate school, wearing sneakers and her everyday clothes, while custodians sweep the classrooms, vacuum carpets and wash down the halls.

Mrs. Moyer is among a group of older people who use the intermediate school and the Evans City Elementary School to exercise out of the weather.

For the past 15 years, the Seneca Valley School District has opened the hallways of the two buildings to walkers from early November through late March.

At the two Seneca Valley schools, walkers may use the buildings from 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, except when the schools are closed or delayed due to inclement weather.

Walkers do not have to pay any fees and need not be residents of the school district. They must sign in upon entering the buildings. Walkers must be 18 years or older, and no dogs are allowed.