'Pound the Playground' initiative helps get children healthy

Nearly 15 percent of children living in Indiana are obese. Now, a special program is trying to bring that number down, one mile at a time.

A decade ago, local P.E. teacher Beck Smart made it her goal to put her students on a path to better health, after only one was able to pass the requirements for the Presidential Fitness Test.  At the time, she talked with her sister about what could be done.

“What could we do to make the scores better and get kids involved, and we thought a trail back here would be good,” remembers Becky.

That trail became a hit among the students at Waverly Elementary School.  It also inspired a special, county-wide program aimed at encouraging kids to get more active. ‘Pound the Playground’ is a competition among more than a dozen schools in Morgan County.

 
“The ultimate hope is that young people will develop the good habit of walking,” said Bud Swisher with the Healthier Morgan County Initiative.

Over a four-week period, students and teachers wog, walk or jog, as many miles as they can. The school with the most miles gets $500 from a local foundation. For parents at Waverly, the money is just icing on the cake. They credit Mrs. Smart with creating a healthier attitude at school.

“Mrs. Smart, our PE teacher is a great motivator and she really works these kids and encourages them,” said mother of four, Missy Wymer.

As for the kids, despite all the playground equipment, more often than not, they are on the track.

“Running, it's just easier because I do not like the playground equipment, so I just do wogging instead,” said 3rd-grader JT Wellsprind, who has wogged nearly 150 miles since the start of the school year.

First-grader Lennon Zollman has already wogged more than 90 miles.

“It was hard and sometimes I got sweaty, but it was not that tiring,” said Zollman.

The students, like JT and Lennon, said Mrs. Smart plays a big role in making them enjoy wogging. It is that encouragement the Mrs. Smart hopes can lead to a lifelong commitment to good health.

“Everything is easy access, so people don't have to go out and work up a sweat. Which is what we need to do,” said Mrs. Smart. “God blessed us with these bodies and we need to take care of them.”

On top of the $500 given to the winning school, weekly prizes are also handed out to students. Also, a raffle is held at the end of the program and one lucky student from each school wins a new bike.

This year Mrs. Smart’s school won their second-straight ‘Pound the Playground’ title. Students and teachers combined to walk an average of 14 miles.