'Kamp' for kids resumes this weekend

PEAK1

Participants in the Department of Exercise, Sport and Health Education PEAK program.

A children's exercise program offered on campus for more than three decades will resume this weekend in the Peters Hall gymnasium at Radford University.

Physical Exercise and Activity Kamp (PEAK) aims to coax elementary school youngsters away from Saturday mornings in front of the TV and get them moving.

PEAK brings children ages 5 to 10 to campus, where students in the Department of Exercise, Sport and Health Education (ESHE) coach them through indoor soccer, floor hockey and basketball as well as recreational activities such as scooter races and parachute games.

This semester's program begins on Saturday, Feb. 9, with registration at 8:45 a.m. on Feb. 9 at the main entrance to Peters Hall. The fee is $25 for four weeks of two-hour sessions beginning Saturday and continuing through March 2. The fee covers basic costs for equipment.

The College of Education and Human Developmentā€™s ESHE department directs the program, which is coordinated by faculty instructors Jon Poole, Anna DeVito and Steve Shelton. The program was established in the late 1970s.

Once children reach the age of 9 or 10, they typically become involved in organized youth sports on the weekends, and the PEAK program is less attractive, Poole said. That is why the camp focuses on enrolling 5- to 8-year-olds.

Radford students studying to become teachers are required to spend 50 hours working with children in some capacity before applying to the teacher education program. Faculty members in the physical education teacher preparation program organize and supervise PEAK with RU students to help them meet that requirement.

To learn more about PEAK and for registration information, email Poole, DeVito or Shelton.

Feb 5, 2013
Bonnie Q. Erickson
(540) 831-5804
broberts@radford.edu