Preventing couch potatoes while they're still small fries

Cougar Ridge Elementary PE teacher Lisa Patton signs all of her e-mails: "Preventing couch potatoes while they're still small fries." She and her P.E. colleagues across the District know their time with students each week is about much more than timed runs and push-up tests. It's about getting students to love movement, exercise, and sports so they will grow into active, healthy adults.

Just think: what students learn in PE today could add years to their life in the decades ahead.

With that in mind, Patton has been the catalyst behind a new U.S. Tennis Association-sponsored program at District elementary schools that will expose hundreds of children to the popular "lifetime" sport.

"Tennis is a lifetime sport because it does not need a team of people to participate in it," Patton said. "It is hard to be active as an adult in sports when you have to get a lot of people together in order to get a game going. Tennis needs only one other person and you can also hit against a wall by yourself to practice as well."

Last year, Patton contacted the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) about its School Tennis program. She received an enthusiastic response. A USTA trainer agreed to provide a workshop in November for all District elementary school P.E. specialists. In addition, three P.E. teachers from Issaquah Middle School attended.

Afterward, several schools expressed interest in beginning a tennis program during the school day or before or after school, which would coordinate with PE lessons. The USTA gave them free equipment, including nets, balls, and rackets. The District also received two traveling kits with portable nets that are available for all elementary PE classes.

A few Cougar Ridge students will already have a jump-start learning tennis when the after-school programs begin. In October 2006, Patton coached a team of six students in the statewide Tennis Fest at the University of Washington. The team placed second.

Most importantly, they had fun playing.

"We need to provide activities for our students that promote lifetime fitness and activity, and tennis does this," Patton said. "Obviously our programs want to promote healthy lifestyles and activity for all and give them a range of activities that they can participate in for their whole lives-not just when they are in school."