e g h iin Ti er l THE
Sept. 29, 2009 Volume 50 Issue 3
A Healthy Allowance
1015 Division St. Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613
Physical education receives grant, plans expansion After a lengthy application process, the Cedar Falls K-12 physical education department recently became the only district in Iowa to win a competitive grant that will deliver close to $1 million in improvements to health equipment and facilities around the district. The kindergarten through 12th grade Physical Education staff superintendent Dr. David Stoakes and Assistant Athletic Director Troy Becker got together and came up with a 50-page document to send to the federal government in appeal to this grant. In the document, the P.E. teachers came up with a three-year plan that includes goals, plans and recommendation letters from people in the community. It took five weeks to finalize the document and for grant writer Kim Byers to write it. In July, Cedar Falls schools were
notified that their grant to the U.S. Department of Education Carol M. White Physical Education Program was approved by the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools. “Over 950 applications were filed from all the states, and we were the only ones from Iowa to get the grant. There were approximately 70 schools awarded,” Becker, the project director, said. “This grant will support changes to every school in our district K-12,” he added. The three goals of the transformation are fitness and active lifestyles; good nutrition and healthy eating habits; and lifetime fitness. “Our plan is to collect data every three months to back up the goals,” P.E. teacher Jamie Smith said. “We will be testing heart rates, body mass indexes, rep maxes and to make sure the grant is being put to use, there will be site visits from the federal government.” The district will be receiving the money over the next three
Q: As student body president, what would you like to do to make the school environment better for the students? A: I want to make sure that students continue feeling comfortable in our school, and if they don’t I want to know what I could do to make it help. It’s hard being one person. You don’t see all the sides of the spectrum unless people confront you about it. No one on student senate is a mind reader, and in order for changes to be made we would love to know what the subject matter is. In all honesty, I wish all year could be homecoming because the spirit of this week is awesome. It’s neat to see so many people be proud of Cedar Falls, represent our school and take part in all the activities going on.
Q: What was going through your mind when you signed up to be a candidate last year? A: When signing up to be a candidate, I was pretty nervous because I hate disappointment, but I love student senate, and I’ve been involved some way in student government since early elementary years, so I figured that president would be the next step. Q: What are the biggest obstacles that you and your administration have faced thus far? A: So far there haven’t been too many obstacles yet. We are only four weeks into the year and so far our major goal to tackle has been the big task of homecoming. It came a lot sooner this year than the previous ones. So, with that said, I suppose our biggest challenge has just been to work really fast and generate ideas
Jayne Durnin Staff Writer
years. In this first year, the amount is $455,288. Next year, it will be $240,480 and the third year, $205,551. The second and third installments can be adjusted to be more if the weight room is successful. “The plan is to replace all the specialized equipment with two machines that can do all of the lifts and are also handicapped accessible,” Smith said. The high school will also be receiving 18-23 new machines for cardio workouts, including treadmills, ellipticals and bikes. The grant also provides for new jump ropes and dumbbells. There will also be some construction expanding the weight room. The plan will build a doorway leading directly to the health room and windows between the two rooms. The health room will also be expanded. Construction is set to begin during Christmas break and to be done around spring break.
Alex Telios Photo
Senior Nate Buck takes advantage of the variety of weights in the CFHS weight room.
Student body president lays out goals for year for homecoming quicker than we’ve had to in the past. Q: How do you plan to apply the experience you have received from being student body president to life outside high school? A: I plan to continue being involved in student government after my high school years. Due to the fact that student senate involves organizing activities and volunteering frequently, those are the two main interests I have and definitely plan to keep up with. Q: Who have your inspirations been throughout your high school career? A: Throughout my high school career, on a more personal level, my dad has really inspired me. He is the most selfless person I’ve ever met and is always working with some volunteer group one way or another.
He never pressured me to volunteer, it was always a choice, and that’s what I respect. Also, being in the high school I have had two teachers really inspire me. Mrs. Considine is flat out an amazing person, and working/volunteering with her through junior leadership was always a fun experience. Throughout student senate Mr. Flaherty has definitely been a huge motivation to me. I strongly believe that if you respect someone of upper authority, you don’t mind working hard or taking on tasks that otherwise may seem daunting. Mr. Flaherty always always always has a smile on his face, puts students before his own needs constantly and is so much fun to work with. His sense of humor keeps the whole group going.
Allison Duchman Student Body President