IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PUPILS GETTING FIT WITH ENERGY TO BURN

JACKSON -- If you think kids have a lot of energy, put 30 of them in an open area with music running at 130 beats per minute.

Mixing it up with them is not advisable, but that's exactly what Immaculate Conception's physical education teacher Ellen Koeper and Main Street Fitness aerobics instructor Jaynie Miller have been doing for the last five weeks.

Miller is a certified aerobics instructor through the American Council on Exercise, and she is introducing the A.C.E. program Energy to Burn to fourth-graders in Jackson as a way to improve their fitness knowledge.

"The students get a different lesson each week for five weeks about health and fitness," Miller said. "We're trying to encourage them to know about being fit."

Miller said the Energy to Burn program follows a standardized lesson plan that teaches students about the importance of aerobic activity, flexibility, facts about the heart, and why the body needs water. The last lesson, she said, focuses on the Presidential Sports Award.

To earn this award, Miller said, students choose a sport or activity and check to see how many hours are required. They are encouraged to participate in that sport every day, and most of the sports require 30 to 50 hours. Students receive a log book their parents are required to sign stating they exercised for specific amounts of time. After filling the log book the student receive the award.

If the students choose aerobics, they can put down the 75 minutes Miller has worked with them.

Miller piloted the program at Immaculate Conception and St. Paul Lutheran schools. She said the program will begin in Jackson public schools in January. If it is successful, it could be introduced in Cape Girardeau schools next year.

Washington Elementary School in Cape Girardeau was also used as a pilot school.

Koeper said Energy to Burn was designed to get children to understand the importance of aerobic activity for the body at a younger age. "They go through class instruction for a little while each week," Koeper said. "Then they get to do aerobics after that."

The students go through a warm-up before they begin and after they finish, but the entire workout is extremely energy-packed. Students follow Miller through a routine just as an adult aerobics class would, but the difference is in the routine's content.

Miller shouts out questions about things she has taught the students during the workouts, and the students shout the answers back. She also lets the students take over the class several times during the workout.

"(The students) seem to really like it because she incorporates all of the sports they like," Koeper said. "They do exercises that involve sports like basketball, volleyball and skiing, and they use the motions to keep the body moving.

"The big finale is that they get to lead it."