Fort Worth schools are taking advantage of some federal money to get kids active outside.
The fitness trail in the back of De Zavala Elementary School in Fort Worth is very basic. It’s just a winding path that forms a circle when looked at from on top the playground slide that sits nearby.
But to the students who use it, the trail is a path to a healthier life.
A federal grant paid for paths to be placed at six Fort Worth schools.
The students are taken outside to use the track during physical education. It will help get them the 60 minutes of exercise experts say they need daily.
While running the students stop and do push-ups, crunches and other exercises.
Physical education teacher Betsy Bowles says she has it easy because the kids do all the work without being asked.
“They self-directed themselves. Like, they’re making choices what type of exercise they are doing at the corners and they’re changing it. If they are tired of push-ups for a while then they change into the dips or change into the crunches. They’re making choices and if they’re making choices then they’re going to want to move and groove,” said Bowles.
The rest of the 60 minutes the kids should be getting is conquered after school.
The fitness trail is even motivating some kids and their parents to join one of the schools running clubs.
