We are busy preparing for our trip to the 2007 AAHPERD National Convention in Baltimore this week. For those of you who are attending we sure hope you can drop by the S&S / PE Central / EPEC booth. We would love to meet some of our visitors. In addition make sure to attend our active participation session showcasing some of the published lesson ideas on PE Central.

The Coleman Company is excited to bring you The 2007 Coleman Everest 5.5 Challenge Web site! The purpose of the site is to motivate children and adolescents (starting at grades 4/5) to become physically active by providing them with a fun and educational Web site that encourages them to record and track their physical activity in minutes and/or steps while striving to virtually reach the summit of Mount Everest. The Challenge, named for the height of Mount Everest in miles, will coincide with 8th grade science teacher Mike Haugen's actual climb to the summit of the world's highest peak. Students, in addition to their virtual hike, will also see video and e-mail reports of Mike's actual Everest expedition. The site will also showcase a Question of the Day for kids who are registered. These questions will be presented up front so students can study to get the correct answer when they are presented. The questions will be about Mount Everest and the surrounding area.

With this 30-day Challenge Hike, Coleman is motivating kids to get outside and recreate more. Students have 30 days to complete 20 segments. Each segment is completed when a child reports being active at least 60 minutes (or 10,000 steps) for that day. Upon completing a segment students can track their progress on a map up to the base of the mountain (15 segments) and up to the summit (5 segments) of Mount Everest.

As an incentive the schools (with at least 50 registered students) that have the highest percentage of students completing the entire hike (all 20 segments) will receive a souvenir from Coleman. As an added incentive, Coleman will send the first 55 teachers to register 10 students a $50 gift card redeemable at Coleman.com. Features and limitations of the site are listed next.

List of Site Features (things students and teachers can do)

Registered students can:

• record and edit their physical activity minutes and/or steps from any computer with Internet access.
• view their progress via a map that shows a trail up to the mountain and then up the mountain.
• Learn about the region surrounding Mount Everest and the mountain itself when recording at least 60 physical activity minutes or 10,000 steps on a daily basis.
• choose from a large list of physical activities (PDF) in which they can log minutes or steps for.
• learn more about Everest and the hike by answering a question of the day.
• can view and print a certificate of achievement upon reaching the summit of Mt Everest (20 out of the 30 days being active at least 60 minutes).
• contribute to becoming one of the most active schools in the hike.

Registered teachers can:

• view their overall school statistics including: total number of registered students, number of students completing the hike, and number of segments completed out of maximum total.
• manage their classes with a variety of tools including the ability to add and delete students and classes, edit class and student profiles, view student un's and pw's, view student progress, edit student steps and physical activity minutes, view class rosters, and view and print student achievement certificates for those students who completed the hike to the top of the summit.

Limitations of the Program

• It is only a 30-day hike so the site will come down on May 11, 2007
• Only students who record 60 physical activity minutes or 10,000 steps can earn a segment to move toward reaching the summit of Mount Everest.
• Students cannot enter unlimited number of miles or steps per day. The cap is set at 120 activity minutes/20,000 steps. This is done to alleviate cheating.
• The list of physical activities a child can record minutes or steps to is limited to the list that is available. No one can add to this list.
• Students can only enter minutes or steps up to 3 days back. However teachers can enter up to 30 days back so if a student misses a day or days then the teacher can do this for the student.

Important Dates/Timeline

• Week of March 12, 2007: Registration opens for teachers; students can register on that day as well after their teacher registration is complete.
• Monday, April 9, 2007: The virtual hike begins. Students can begin logging their physical activity.
• Thursday, April 19, 2007: Registration for everyone is closed. Teachers can't register any new students either.
• Friday, May 11, 2007: 30-day hike site is closed down and the top 25 schools will be announced on the site shortly thereafter.

Spring is here and so it is time to think about your upcoming field day! Below are some ideas we have on PEC and a few books found in our store that might be helpful too.

Featured PEC Field Day ideas:

• Passport to America (K-8)
• Pirate P.E. Field Day (4-8)
• Fifty States Field Day (K-5)
• The Joy of Community (4-5)
• All Field Day Ideas
• Search All PEC Lesson Ideas

Thanks to S&S Worldwide, our Primary Sponsor, for supplying the gift certificates of $50.00 for each of the authors who get their ideas published on PEC. If you wish to submit an idea click here.

One of the most popular questions that we receive at PE Central is about teaching PE without a gym or in limited spaces. None of us have the best answer for that question. We like to suggest you try cooperative activities that are available on our site or in our store. We are featuring some of the books/dvd's that may prove helpful if you find yourself in this situation. All proceeds from the sales go into improving and growing PE Central. If you have a product you would like us to consider adding to our store contact us at pec@pecentral.org.

FeaturedProducts:

Superman Exercise Flash Cards

Dance Poster Set

Fit Kids Classroom Workout DVD

Try the "Y-Ties" elastic-laces fundraiser! You won't be disappointed!

Over 5,000 U.S. elementary schools have done the "Y-Ties" program. Everything is supplied with no money up-front. Pay for what you sell and send the rest back. Earn $500 to $2,000 or more in a few weeks. No outside sales . . . it's all in-school.

Physical Education Public Service Announcement Video Clips (from Dolly Lambdin's students at Univ. of Texas aAustinin)

PBS Teachers (Great new site from our friends at PBS. Check out the great Health Lessons section!)

FREE Active Academic Lesson Ideas (from our friends in West Virginia)

FREE Energizer Lessons (from our friends in North Carolina)

FREE Inclusive PE Brochure (from our friends in North Carolina)

FREE NASPE's Developmentally Appropriate PE Documents PreK-12

Thank you for reading our newsletter. We hope to see some of you in Baltimore. In the meantime keep up to date with the latest PE news by accessing our Blog/Info Center!

Sincerely,