8 Wednesday, November 6, 1996 West Seattle Herald/White Center News
McEwan invents
new ways to make
PE class fun
By Tim St. Clair
STAFF WRITER
Washington's elementary school
physical education teacher of the
year accepts a hug from a little girl
in the middle of the gym floor at
Schmitz Park School.
Barbara McEwan, a 15-year vet-
eran at the school and an Arbor
Heights resident, was honored Oct.
25 by the Washington State
Alliance for Health, Physical Edu-
cation, Recreation and Dance.
Last Friday was "Barbara McE-
wan Day" at Schmitz Park School.
Her fellow teachers wore sports hats
in her honor.
It's not the first time that McE-
wan has brought accolades to the
school.
Last year was the fifth straight ill
which Schmitz Park students have
been rated tops in the state in physi-
cal fitness.
Schmitz Park also won a Presi-
dential Fitness Award and placed
10th in the nation.
SHE'S CERTAINLY popular
with the kids. Dozens of them swirl
around her for the 20-minute free
period just before school starts. It
looks like tryouts for Ringling Bros.
and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
The gym swarms with kids riding
unicycles, climbing ropes, juggling,
scrambling around on a large exer-
cise apparatus, leaping into double-
Dutch jump ropes, balancing atop
large balls, walking on big wooden
spools and jumping on pogo sticks.
"She has lots of stuff for us to
play on," says Tyler Ljuvich, a
fifth-grade student.
"I like how she always gets us to
do new things," says fourth-grader
Genevieve Shaad.
"She just works us until we get
it," adds Suzuye Nomqra, also a
fourth-grade student.
Classmate Tori Enger likes the
fact that McEwan lets the kids pick
which games they want to play, as
long as they've been good.
McEwan's trademark is participa-
tion.
"THE GOAL in P.E. is to find
something that every kid likes," she
says.
She figures out ways to get as
many students as possible doing
something physical. She wants
everybody active most of the time.
"I don't want one kid running and
all the others watching," she says.
McEwan grew up in Belfair and,
although she was athletic, there
weren't nearly as many opportuni-
ties for girls in sports as there are
now.
She was on the high school tennis
team, but the only way for girls to
participate in anything else remotely
athletic was to be a cheerleader,
which she was also.
McEwan earned a bachelor of arts
degree and a master's degree in
education at Western Washington
University. More athletic opportuni-
ties opened up there, and she
learned to love soccer.
"I still play on a women's soccer
team," McEwan says.
MOST SCHMITZ Park students
Barbara McEwan (left), clocks Brandon LaVielle as he sets a personal record on
gym class at Schmitz Park Elementary School.
Bruce Savadow/staff
a unicycle during a
come to the gym for P.E. threesold nationwide in specialty cata-
times a week. Kindergartners are logs forP.E, teachers.
there every day. "ABZ cones" are another McE-
McEwan's challenge is finding wan idea.
new ways to motivate the kids. She Cones with a single letter on them
continually comes up with new are scattered at one end of the gym.
skills to teach. She puts charts on Then kids must run from the other
the walls of the gym that record end of the gym to snatch up cones
each child's progress. Kids increase with appropriate letters and run
the number of skills they have and back to spell specific words.
work to improve their times. ONE NIGHT a week, McEwan
On Hal- teaches other
loween, McE- teachers how to
wan and her stu- iJ use physical
anything else. Balance helps them
focus too."
McEwan and other teachers also
keep an eye out for kids who have
trouble skipping, jumping rope or
doing jumping jacks. Those are
signs of a lack of perceptual motor
skills, and such kids get extra help.
Usually it's not a physical impair-
merit that holds kids back, but a
couch-potato lifestyle at home,
McEwan says. Improvement often
comes with simple practice.
dent teacher, Ed 66 The goal in PE is to education in OTHER TEACHERS use the
Adams from their own class- P.E. program to,reward their own
Seattle Pacific find something that es. Her class is students. The promise of time in the
U n i v e r s i t y, c o n d u c t e d 'gym is good for classroom disci-
came up with every kid likes through Central pline and for getting homework
"ghost bowl- ---BarbMcEwan Washington done, McEwansays.
ing." McEwan University. Good behavior and completed
drew ghostly She's even schoolwork also qualify students to
faces on plastic written a bookcheck out unicycles overnight.
bowling pins about physicalBy the way, the taxpayers didn't
and the kids roll plastic balls at education, pay for the unicycles, climbing
them. Part of McEwan's plan is to get apparatus or some of the other
She also had a game called "spi- kids to enjoy physical exercise. But equipment in the Schmitz Park gym.
der catch," in which a rubber sPider she also sees academic benefits The PTSA bought the first four
is bounced off a springboard and the from P.E. unicycles, but students sell choco-
studentsmust catch it in a net. "It builds total positive self- late bunnies at Easter to get money
McEwan gets some of her ideasesteem," she says. "We have lots of to buy much of the P.E. equipment
atconventi0ns and workshops. But kids in special ed who have trouble, at Schmitz Park School, McEwan
she's also come up with some of her But they do well at P.E. The same says.
own. for some APP (advanced placement Why does she do it?
For example, "Chuk-em" is a col- program) kids."
orful, five-foot piece of pipe insula- "Juggling helps them focus," "It's the kids," she says. "There
tion she invented to help kids in chimes in Adams. "If you're jug- are neat kids here. And we have the
wheelchairs play tag. Now the toy is gling, you can't be thinking about best parents around."
