Naperville Central Ties in Gym with Learning
Using Sportwall Equipment
By Melissa Jenco, Daily Herald Staff Writer
Gym class long has been about more than dodgeball and
basketball at Naperville IL Central High School. But
now some physical education instructors are taking things
further and team-teaching with colleagues in literacy
programs to help students who read below their grade
levels.
Students are making use of the interactive electronic
equipment the school has received from PE4life, such
as Sportwall Group Training Stations, which help with
cross-lateral movement, coordination and concentration;
or Trazer, which are similar to virtual reality games
that can provide a cardiovascular workout and enhance
agility.
Participating students - there were 11 freshmen during
first semester and five during second semester - set
their alarms about 45 minutes earlier than most classmates
to take part in the program. The students voluntarily
took the 7 a.m. Zero Hour gym class, followed a short
time later by a literacy class.
Paul Zientarski's confidence in the class rested in
the research of John Ratey, clinical associate professor
of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Ratey found
that exercise releases chemicals that are like Miracle-Gro
on the brain.
Zientarski, chairman of the school's health and physical
education department, said test scores of students in
the Zero Hour class are proving Ratey's research to
be correct. During first semester, reading scores for
students in the program improved by the equivalent of
1.4 grade levels, while literacy students who didn't
take the early gym class improved by 0.9. The results
were identical with the second semester group.
These were the kids that eventually started taking leadership
roles in small groups," said Neil Duncan, who teaches
the Zero Hour class. "They were the ones that were
speaking out, raising their hand and interacting with
the class and the teacher."
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