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Youth Empowerment Center News

School leaders find it hard to fit in PE

By Helen Gao
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

November 25, 2004 - San Diego County children have slightly improved in physical fitness, but about 70 percent failed minimum fitness tests that included running, curl-ups, push-ups and stretches, according to a report released by the state.

The fitness levels of fifth-graders were unchanged, with 26 percent of those tested in the past school year meeting all six state fitness standards.

Thirty-three percent of seventh-graders met the standards, up about a percentage point from 2002-2003, while ninth-graders' pass rate rose from 26 percent to 29 percent. Only fifth, seventh and ninth grades were tested.

On average, San Diego County's results are 2 percentage points higher than statewide numbers.

In announcing the dismal state of children's health in California, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said schools should not let the pressure of meeting high academic standards come at the expense of physical fitness.

"There is a myth out there that academic excellence and good physical fitness are mutually exclusive," he said. "It's possible to integrate high academic standards with high physical fitness standards."

With the state and the federal government imposing increasingly punitive measures on underperforming schools, physical education classes have taken a back seat. School administrators struggle to find time to fit physical education in between before-school and after-school intervention programs.

"There is a lot of pressure on teachers. There is an awful lot of focus on test scores," said Mary Blackman, curriculum coordinator for health and physical education at the San Diego County Office of Education.

But at the same time, Blackman said there is a growing recognition of the childhood obesity epidemic.

Peri Lynn Turnbull, spokeswoman for the San Diego Unified School District, said city schools in recent years updated physical education curriculum and received new fitness equipment.

Next week, Clairemont High School will celebrate the grand opening of a new fitness center remodeled and equipped by the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit fitness certification and education provider.

Since 1993, the council has partnered with schools to create 21 local fitness centers.

Council President Ken Germano, who founded Operation FitKids, a youth outreach initiative that brings fitness training, educational materials and equipment to schools, said the main reason kids ages 11 to 15 are unfit is because of physical inactivity.

"The issues that are raised now with kids with regards to incidence of disease, diabetes and hypertension would probably take three generations to reverse," said Germano, a former PE teacher, noting that the problem took decades to reach epidemic proportion.

At Green Elementary School in San Diego, a magnet school with a focus on athletics, PE teacher DeeDee Patterson hopes early habits instilled in her students will create a lifetime of good health.

At Green, students have PE classes four days a week. Patterson said modern life makes it hard for kids to stay fit.

"Times have changed so much. Kids used to walk to school. We would play outside until all hours of the night. I don't see that happening any more," she said. "I see parents driving them everywhere. The television has become a huge deterrent to physical activity."

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Helen Gao: (619) 718-5181; helen.gao@uniontrib.com

Anti-gang group seeks help of Vista community

By: ANNE RILEY-KATZ - Staff Writer

VISTA -- May 31, 2005 -- An Oceanside-based program targeting at-risk youth may help curb gang activity on Vista's streets, but first, the group needs the community's help.

The TenPoint group is a faith-based effort that uses police, community and business involvement to mentor children at risk of gang involvement. The group hosted a community meeting Tuesday in Vista to put the word on the street about the group's mission.

A lower-than-expected turnout of about 15 people, including a handful of residents, two council members and representatives from only two of the city's more than 80 churches, did not deter group leaders from delivering their message.

"At first, I was disappointed when I saw the empty seats, but I am going to allow my discouragement to turn into motivation," said Oceanside Pastor Gerald Johnson of the City of Refuge Church.

The group, formed last year, is headed by Johnson, who is also the chaplain of the Oceanside Police Department. The organization aims to offer positive alternatives to troubled youth and gang members looking to improve their lives.

"We're not trying to shove Jesus down anyone's throat, we're just trying to give some kind of core values," Johnson said of the program's reliance on faith-based institutions. "We have found that core values tend only to come out of faith in something or someone."

The program is based on Boston's successful TenPoint program initiated in 1993, but is being tailored to fit the needs of local cities in San Diego County. The local program has been awarded $50,000 by the county Board of Supervisors.

Establishing mentoring relationships with at-risk youth is the heart of the TenPoint mission. The group will soon certify its trained mentors to work with parents and families to educate them about the risks and consequences of gang activity.

TenPoint goals include: engaging churches in an "Adopt a Block" program for areas around their parishes, hosting youth drop-in centers during the high-risk, after-school hours from 2 to 7 p.m., and establishing supervised youth sports activities to keep children off the streets.

Already, the group has sent mentors to visit Oceanside school campuses and will have mentors at El Camino High School starting in September, Johnson said.

There are about 12,000 gang members in San Diego County, and about 250 known gang members in Vista at the present time, said Lt. Hernando Torres of the Vista Sheriff's Station.

"(Gang involvement) is like the tip of an iceberg, so much is hidden," said Sheriff's Department crime analyst Alfred Stumpfhauser, who stressed the need to get preliminary anti-gang efforts off the ground before the school year's end. "If you look really hard, you can see signs that it is expanding, and it's a cyclical problem."

A few meeting attendees strongly advocated a need for parental or family based efforts in addition to those of other groups.

"I am very saddened today to come here and not see any parents, because the home is the root of all these things that are happening in the streets," said Matina Willis, a city resident who spoke at length during the meeting's question-and-answer session. "I think that's why the kids are confused. Here we are ... people in Vista and look at the (empty) chairs."

Escondido resident Daniel Perez, a former Valley Center High School employee who works against gang violence in Escondido, agreed.

"We can't get rid of all the gangs, but our goal is to give a better option," Perez said after the meeting. "Even one person can make a difference, just by listening."

Johnson said that additional meetings would take place in the coming months to encourage more community involvement in Vista, and said he was pleased with the enthusiasm of those who attended Tuesday's meeting.

"My neighborhood recently has become all marked up," Willis said after the meeting of her neighborhood north of Highway 78 and east of College Boulevard. "I thought to myself, should I sell my property and move out, or should I try to do something? I am going to stand up and try to change things."

For more information on the TenPoint program, or to volunteer as a mentor, contact Johnson at (760) 721-7007.

Contact staff writer Anne Riley-Katz at (760) 631-6622 or ariley-katz@nctimes.com.

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Youth Empowerment
Lorraine Bowman, President
4249 Manzanita Drive
San Diego, California 92105
info@empowering-youth.org