The District has been awarded the largest physical education grant in the district's history. Over the next three years, the district will receive a total of $701,917 to expand and enhance its district wide physical education and wellness curriculum for students in grades K-12.
The district applied for the highly competitive Carol M. White Physical Education Program grant in partnership with Adelphi University. During the first year the district will receive $326,416, in the second year $187,752 and in the third year $187,749.
"Achieving this grant is a remarkable accomplishment and it will provide immediate and ongoing benefits directly to our students across all grades," stated Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Kishore Kuncham. "This grant will enable us to expand our physical education and wellness programs. We are grateful to Adelphi University for working with us to achieve this grant and for their continued involvement in the development of our programs."
The objectives of the proposed projects are to provide students with enhanced physical activity opportunities and to raise awareness of the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Students will benefit from programs focusing on proper nutrition, healthy eating habits, the role physical activity plays in a healthy lifestyle and stress management. Students will use state of the art equipment such as new "spinner" bicycles and will be able to monitor their progress toward achieving personal fitness goals through an array of biofeedback technologies and data bases.
"This grant will enable us to go to the next level of physical education and wellness instruction ensuring our students receive the knowledge and skills they need to live a healthy lifestyle," said Jonathan Bloom, Director of Health, Physical Education and Athletics.
The grant will also support enhanced professional staff development enabling teachers to implement standards-driven instruction to motivate students to live a healthier lifestyle. Professional workshops and training sessions will allow for new K-12 physical education lesson planning, instruction and data collection using baselines to measure to monitor student progress.
