LEWISVILLE -- We all remember our childhood PE teachers. Jason Leach is one of them that the kids at Independence Elementary School will never forget.
“Everybody can do something,” said Leach, who has been an educator for 24 years. He’s spent 19 inspiring young people to live an active and healthy lifestyle.
He calls his technique camouflage fitness.
“I plan activities where they don't really realize how hard they're really working," Leach said. “They leave with sweat coming down […] and it wasn't just, ‘OK, we're going to run sprints.’"
In groups, kids raced over, under, and through scarves, testing speed and agility and counting their reps. They’ll compare today’s numbers to their ability at the end of the school year to track progress.
“I want them working together to problem solve,” Leach said.
Then, he masked the old-fashioned plank with whimsical hula hoops for a drill that targeted the full body.
In Leach’s gym, there is no whistle, sprints, or pushups for punishment. Leach wants students to embrace exercise. These days, his sell is harder with the prevalence of fast food, childhood obesity on the rise, and kids tethered to technology.
“I want you to be active with your family all year long," Leach told his students who were seated in the ‘Coach’s Corner’ during a rest between exercises.
Exercising at home with parents and caretakers is the ongoing homework assignment for Leach’s students. They are tasked with taking selfies during physical activity with parents – and the parents are asked to email the pictures to Leach. On a white board, kids went up with ideas of family fit activities, pledging to jog, play Frisbee, or ride bikes with mom and dad.
Unlike years past, PE class doesn’t necessarily happen every day.
“Your PE day is Wednesday and Friday,” Leach told one group of students.
The other days are split between music, art, and theatre.
So, this creative coach reaches students through special programs even when they don’t see him.
“I have special focuses like ‘No Soda November. I also have a ‘French Fry Free February,’” Leach said.
Students, staff and parents are encouraged to participate and keep a calendar showing their efforts.
Leach knows if the kids connect to healthy choices now, there’s a greater shot at an active lifestyle for years to come. He wants these choices to become innate, and to do that, he said, you have to start early.
“I just want them to remember that it's important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to be active,” Leach said.
