Don't let the sandy gravel and red-and-blue metal equipment fool you.
The new addition outside Bancroft Elementary is not playground equipment.
It's a three-week-old fitness center that will get the school's students and, it is hoped, neighborhood families working to improve their strength and fitness.
As the space was officially unveiled Tuesday afternoon, the South Omaha elementary school's physical education teachers directed students to demonstrate the proper use of each of seven equipment stations. There's a space for warm-ups and cool-downs, too.
Since students were trained on the equipment earlier this month, said P.E. teacher Shanda Dominguez, enthusiasm has grown. And the students know it's not for play.
“If they want to play, they go over there,” Dominguez said, nodding toward the playground a few steps away. “If they want to work out, they come here to the fitness center.”
During the demonstration, a third-grade boy climbed up and down a pole five times, drawing thunderous applause. A little girl was cheered for her school-best seven trips across the horizontal ladder.
Others were praised for doing 13 sit-ups, maneuvering across a set of parallel bars and jumping back and forth over a vault bar for a minute.
Sidney Sledge, 7, said she likes the horizontal ladder best. The second-grader said she learned how to swing from bar to bar at a playground near her house. Pull-ups are the hardest, she said — she can do only one. A boy did 10 during the demonstration.
“You don't have to have the biggest muscles in the world to be strong,” P.E. teacher Jeff Hansen told the students, teachers and parents gathered for the demonstration.
Each Bancroft student was tested on the equipment earlier this month. Students' abilities on each station were classified into five levels — below bronze, bronze, silver, gold and “kong.” Now, they're encouraged to work out on the equipment before and after school and during recess.
Dominguez said each student is taught at his or her own fitness level. Those who can't climb the pole, for example, are taught to jump onto the pole and pull themselves up to improve their strength. They'll each be tested again before the end of the school year to measure progress.
The equipment and accompanying curriculum was developed by Project Fit America in 1990. The program operates in six schools in the Omaha district and in two other Nebraska communities, as well as in three Iowa schools.
Bancroft Principal Jodie Lenser said the school was privileged to be selected for the program. The equipment was paid for by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska and the Omaha Schools Foundation. The foundation's director, Toba Cohen-Dunning, said Bancroft, near Eighth and Bancroft Streets, was selected in part because there aren't many city parks nearby.
“This is a community fitness park,” she said. Students are encouraged to teach their parents and neighbors how to use the equipment and bring them along for workouts.
Contact the writer:
444-1037, michaela.saunders@owh.com
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