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Chattanooga: Teachers work out at Woodmore

By: Kelli Gauthier
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kiara Smith

Staff photo by D. Patrick Harding -- Woodmore Elementary kindergarten assistant Kelsey Sheppard does situps on stage during a school assembly to help kick off the school's health program.

It may have been a slightly smaller scale than Beijing, but students at Woodmore Elementary screamed and clapped over the plastic gold medals won by their teachers, treating them like true Olympians.

Two teachers at a time took the stage to compete in the “Olympic” sports of hula hoop, jump rope, pushups, sit ups and long jumps. The special assembly, held Tuesday, kicked off Woodmore’s Steppin’ It Up for Health campaign, an effort to improve the health of students, parents and teachers.

“We’re going to get strong,” Principal Visa Harper told her students. “Ms. Harper is going to get muscles!”

So, as part of the fitness initiative, Woodmore administrators decided to share their building and their exercise equipment with parents. Beginning Tuesday, parents and teachers can attend a free weekly step aerobics class in the school’s multipurpose room. The class will be taught by a fitness instructor from the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga.

Participants also will weigh in weekly for a “Biggest Loser”-style weight-loss competition and wear pedometers to see who takes the most steps during a week.

Fourth-grade teacher Dalia Abdulazeez, who came in second place in Tuesday’s hula hoop contest, said she appreciated the opportunity to get fit along with her colleagues.

“As a teacher, I’m limited in when I can get to the gym,” she said. “This gives us a chance to support each other and show our students that it’s important to be healthy.”

Schools across Hamilton County are emphasizing healthy living this year, thanks to Hamilton County Schools’ Coordinated School Health Department, which provided workout equipment for teachers in 57 schools this summer.

Part of the department’s mission is to promote community wellness as well, said Russell Cliche, director of Coordinated School Health in Hamilton County.

“The more often the kids are exposed to healthy behaviors at home, the more they’re receptive to that at school,” he said.

Two of Ms. Abdulazeez’s students, Kiara Smith, 8, and Rasheed Williams, 9, said they enjoyed seeing their teachers sweat.

“(Today) was awesome,” Kiara said. “It was wonderful to see the teachers do the Olympics and all the fun activities. It was funny sometimes, but it can also make you healthy.”

Kiara is a member of her school’s track team, but said she is going to try to be even healthier. As for Rasheed, he’s pretty sure he’s already on the right track.

“Before I go to sleep, I lift up 15-pound weights with my arms,” he said.

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