Even at tiny Nantahala School in Macon County, electronic pastimes are making students more sedentary and less healthy than their predecessors.

P.E. teacher James Bryan decided a paved walking track could help alleviate the problem, and he successfully led a fund-raising effort to provide one for the school.

Nantahala School is tucked away in Topton in the far western reaches of Macon County. It is one of only two K-12 grade schools left in the state (the other is Blue Ridge School in Jackson County). Bryan says the school’s students are just as likely as their counterparts in urban areas to opt out of physical activity for television, video games and computers.

Bryan has taught P.E. at the 130-student school for four years. Part of his duties include administering the Presidential Fitness Test. He noticed his students performed poorly in the cardiovascular portion of the test, and he also noticed there was “no place to run.”

Bryan requested funding for a track at Nantahala School for the past three years and was denied each year. He points that physical education programs have not received federal funding since the Eisenhower administration, and state budgets have created an average of one PE teacher per 700 students.

So Bryan took his plea to the community. He created a committee of seven from the school and community, and the group drafted a letter and mailed a copy plus the brochure to all 1,700 residents of the community. The letter and brochure addressed the needs and benefits of a walking/running track at the school and asked for donations.

Community members, county commissioners and corporate donors all took an interest in the project. In May, county commissioners approved funding for a track at Nantahala School, which is now built. Duke Energy donated poles and lights so the track may be used at night. To date, $7,900 in donations have been received.

With the track in place, Bryan said the committee is ready to proceed with Phase II of the project. Phase II calls for fitness stations to be placed around the track; a concession stand that could be used during ballgames and soccer matches; water fountains; and restrooms.

Bryan said the track will provide benefits for the entire community. He noted a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed more than 38 percent of people who had access to a walking trail said they used it.

The brochure created for the fund-raising points out that 80 percent of teenagers will become overweight adults. It also points out that 50 percent of girls and 25 percent of boys between the ages of 6 and 17 cannot run a mile any faster than they can walk it. Forty percent of children between the ages of 8 and 12 show one or more symptoms of heart disease; childhood obesity is up 54 percent in children between the ages of 6 and 11; and obesity is up 39 percent in children from 12 to 17.

These statistics prompted Bryan to undertake the project to pave the track at the school.
Bryan is excited the track will be in place when students return soon from summer vacation. But there is still work to be done. Fitness stations could be in place by the end of August, Bryan said.

The group is still seeking donations to complete Phase II of the project. For more information contact Bryan at 828.321.4388 or by email at pe4me007@hotmail.com.

 

Back to Top
The Smoky Mountain News