North Sanpete Middle School has big goals this year to promote health
Daniela Vazquez
Staff writer
12-1-2016
MORONI—The healthy lifestyles and physical education faculty at North Sanpete Middle School (NSMS) have some big goals this year for students to promote lifelong, health enhancing behaviors.
This year, goals are to help student’s value physical education, not only for health but a challenge, self-expression, social interaction and overall enjoyment.
Physical education courses at the school emphasize basic physical skills and fitness development through a wide variety of activities.
“Middle school students work toward mastering basic manipulation and movement skills, knowledge of sports, fitness basics and the important aspects of sportsmanship and teamwork,” NSMS healthy lifestyles and PE teacher Cindy Bedford said.
According to NSMS healthy lifestyles and P.E. teacher Wendle Roberts, physical education supports the Utah Common Core by incorporating cross-curricular concepts such as developing physical, social and cognitive skills.
“The ultimate objective is that planting seeds of knowledge and building a solid foundation of good practical health literacy and decision-making skills will contribute to a variety of healthy choices for the self, others, community and, eventually, the world,” said NSMS Principal O’Dee Hansen.
Hansen and other NSMS faculty claim instruction in healthy lifestyles have been greatly enriched with the addition of iPads because they allow students a tool to research answers to questions on-demand.
According to Hansen, literacy in language arts, math, history, science and technology has been strengthened through the healthy lifestyle curriculum.
A health educated student is more likely to comprehend concepts related to preventing illness by being able to decipher valid health information, products, and services, reducing risk behaviors and practicing health-enhancing ones.
“The goal of a health educated person is practicing life-long health-enhancing behaviors, and this is a large task for an adolescent,” Roberts said. “The progress students have made is quite amazing in this introductory semester healthy lifestyle course.”
The course is also geared to help students develop competency in motor skills and movement patterns and principals of fitness and game strategies.
“NSMS students are a truly amazing group of high-energy, fun-loving and intelligent young people who love action,” Bedford said. “Therefore, we build on that concept and work hard to set the stage for success and lifelong physical and active lives. The information taught is vital, the students are bright, inquisitive, super interesting and overall an impressive group of adolescents.”
