| FRESNO, Calif., Feb 13, 2007 - Break
the Barriers, Inc., the nation's premier sports-arts center
uniting the able and disabled, will receive $500,000 per
year for the next three years from The Carol M. White
Physical Education Program (PEP). The PEP funds will be
used exclusively to improve and expand the physical education
and after-school programs in the Fresno, Clovis, Madera,
Kings Canyon, Fowler and Golden Valley Unified School
Districts. Program partners include CSU Fresno, Fresno
and Madera County Offices of Education, Kids Kan, Inc.
and, Joe Herzog, Region 28 chairman for the California
Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation
and Dance (CAPHERD).
The Carol M. White Physical Education Program is part
of the U.S. Department of Education that provides grants
to initiate, expand, and improve physical education
programs for K-12 students in order to help them make
progress toward meeting state standards for physical
education.
"The goal of the PEP project is to develop a fully
inclusive and integrated physical education, health
and nutrition program in California's Central Valley,"
said Break the Barriers Co-founder and Executive Director
Deby Hergenrader. "Students who participate in
the project will adopt healthier habits and benefit
from creative, regular exercise doing activities they
enjoy, and learn to make more nutritious food choices."
Dr. Gale Gorke, founder and executive director of Kids
Kan, Inc., will serve as project director. Gorke has
spent more than 25-years in public education administration,
and has implemented the PEP project in multiple communities.
"We have a solid infrastructure in place from
which to implement and sustain the project. Improvements
are being made to the curriculum to meet state P.E.
standards, and we are employing measures to evaluate
the short- and long-term effects of the project,"
said Gorke. "However, I think our greatest success
will result from the increased skill and knowledge of
the PEP staff due to ongoing training, and the enthusiastic
support and involvement of the parents and the local
communities."
The PEP funds will boost the existing physical education
programs in the schools, districts and communities by
developing research-based lab training schools and a
community lab training site at Break the Barriers; and
by providing updated training in P.E., health and nutrition
standards in the university credential and certification
programs at the school sites and at the lab training
sites.
The physical education program will be expanded by
adding fully inclusive Adaptive Physical Education activities
(adapted or modified to address the individualized needs
of children and youth who have gross motor developmental
delays), so all students may participate equally in
the P.E., after school, and recreation programs. Research-based
sports, recreation, health, fitness, and nutrition programs
are being adapted to meet the specific needs of participants.
There will also be a focus on integrating California's
Health and Nutrition Content Standards with California's
current and new Physical Education Standards.
About Break the Barriers
Fresno-based Break the Barriers is a non-profit 501
(c) (3) organization established in 1985. Through sports,
arts, aquatics, health and fitness programs for the
able bodied and the disabled, Break the Barriers is
recognized as a "National Role Model for Inclusion"
by the U.S. Department of Special Education, acknowledged
throughout California, the United States, and abroad
for its equity advocacy.
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