For more information, contact:
Paula Keyes Kun (703) 476-3461
RESTON, VA – April 21, 2003 – The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) urges schools and communities across the country to plan activities to celebrate the 20th anniversary of May: National Physical Fitness and Sports Month which was first commemorated by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. For the past 20 years NASPE and the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports have been stressing the benefits of being physically active such as improved physical fitness, enhanced self-esteem and stress reduction. A number of events are planned across the country.
“NASPE encourages all physical education teachers to plan physical activity events in their schools and communities such as physical education demonstrations, Family Fun Nights, and Field Days,” says Judith C. Young, Ph.D., NASPE executive director. “May is a great time to introduce people to the joy and health benefits of a variety of physical activities. When everyone's body is at its full potential, children and adults enjoy a high level of physical fitness, feel good about their skills, enjoy moving, and have new energy and endurance.”
On Tuesday, April 29, in Washington, D.C., NASPE will announce the results of a new parents opinion survey about their views about children's health, worries about childhood obesity and concerns about the lack of physical activity in their children's lives. Joining NASPE President George Graham of Pennsylvania State University, State College, will be the 2003 NASPE National Teachers of the Year: Carol Ann Cooke, Elementary Level, Bozeman, MT; Mary Hirt, Middle School Level, Los Angeles, CA; and Suzanne Newlin, High School Level, Montrose, CO and Steve Cone, president of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), of Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. As part of their Washington, DC visit, the NASPE Teachers of the Year will discuss the importance of quality physical education programs with radio program hosts across the country on May 1: National Physical Education Day.
Also that week the physical educators will join members of PE4Life, a national advocacy organization promoting the importance and value of physical education, and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), on Capitol Hill to encourage the legislators to increase appropriations funding for the Carol M. White Physical Education Program for 2004 to $100 million. The PEP program provides much needed funding to increase the opportunity for quality physical education programs in grades kindergarten through high school.
At 10 am local time on Wednesday, May 7 millions of schoolchildren and teachers around the world will celebrate Project ACES Day which stands for All Children Exercising Simultaneously, a symbolic gesture of fitness and unity. Starting its 15th year, Project ACES has reached participants from over 50 countries.
For more information about activities pertaining to May: National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, visit the NASPE website at www.aahperd.org/naspe. NASPE is the largest of AAHPERD's six national associations. A nonprofit membership organization of over 18,000 professionals in the fitness and physical activity fields, NASPE is the only national association dedicated to strengthening basic knowledge about sport and physical education among professionals and the general public. Putting that knowledge into action in schools and communities across the nation is critical to improved academic performance, social reform and the health of individuals.