CHRIS ADKINS CAN run the mile in 5 minutes, 23 seconds.
Tristan Minnihan can do 22 pull-ups, and tied with Patrick Charlton for the jump and reach record: 2 feet.
Louise Bednarik set a record for pull-ups: 18.
Ezra Easley can do 89 sit-ups.
Mia Henderson, Keenan Bennett and Isaiah Mason can do the shuttle run in under 9 seconds.
Berkley Hill scored an 87 out of 100 in the pacer run.
Obesity epidemic in American children? Not at Blue Heron School.
100-plus get awards
At a physical fitness awards assembly in the school gym last week, Tom Kent, physical education teacher and dean of students, presented National Physical Fitness Awards to more than 100 Blue Heron middle school students.
Half of the school’s seventh-graders, more than a third of the sixth-grade students and a third of the eighth-graders scored above the national average in five categories: pull-ups, curl-ups, vertical sit and reach, mile run and shuttle.
In a special category were 13 students who had set new school records in seven categories: sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, mile run, shuttle run, pacer and jump and reach.
In addition to those named above, they include Eryn Reierson, who at age 11 could do a vertical jump of 17 inches, and Opal Bednarik, who set a pull-up record for girls her age.
Same as military
“These are the same categories that are used in the U.S. military academies,” Kent said.
The new record holders also win a coveted place on the Blue Heron Records Board, which they hold until another student knocks them off. It’s on the wall of the gym.
Painted on a wall in the hallway next to the locker rooms is a chart where Kent measures the height of each student at the first of the year and at intervals — some students grow 3 inches during the school a year, he said.
In each locker room is a poster showing students of different body types.
The goal: to let students know what “normal” looks like in growing middle school students, Ken said — that is, it varies widely from person to person.
He also inspires each student to reach national fitness goals.
“They don’t see themselves as athletes,” Kent said, “but they learn that you can always try.
“Now they know what they can achieve.”
The students work all year on meeting the goal, Kent said, with the effort intensifying during the final weeks of school.
Last week, at the awards assembly, Kent, assisted by Scott Ricardo, presented certificates to the students, who were then congratulated by Paula Dowdle of Jefferson Healthcare and JH Commissioners Tony DeLeo and Maria Dressler.
Each student also received a navy blue Fit for Life T-shirt.
$500 donations
Jefferson Healthcare and Port Townsend Athletic Club each donated $500 to purchase navy blue Fit for Life T-shirts, Kent said, a sponsorship tradition originally started by the Port Townsend Elks Lodge.
He encourages people to go up and offer their congratulations when they see a student wearing a Fit for Life shirt.
In addition, 13 middle school students received Presidential Physical Fitness Awards for scoring at or above the 85th percentile in the five categories.
They are Louise Bednarik, Charlton, Colin Coker, Sean Dwyer, Hill, Sam Meier, Minnihan, Groves Moore, Camille Ottaway, Rose Ridder, Shae Shoop, Paula Sexton and Emily Slough.
Students aren’t the only ones who can set goals and receive national recognition; adults are invited to take the President’s Challenge and work toward the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.
For more information, visit www.presidentschallenge.org.
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Jennifer Jackson writes about Port Townsend and Jefferson County every Wednesday. To contact her with items for this column, phone 360-379-5688 or email jjackson@olypen.com.
