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Healthy Living

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year-old twins Adam and Michaet Lutz

•1

* :* *;4,

of Birmingham work out with Denise Parr. The

boys are third-graders.

Elementary school
teacher stresses eating right,
staying fit.

Robert A. Sklar
Editor

p

hysical education
teacher Denise
Parr thrives on
making a difference in the
lives of impressionable
kindergarteners through
fifth-graders, especially
how they approach exer-
cise and nutrition. Her
goal mirrors the changing
face of physical education:
away from team sports
and toward heart health.
That's why she relishes
visits by former students
who have achieved in the
real world thanks in part
to the health awareness
and vitality they devel-
oped in elementary school.

Denise Parr: "I like to

personally be fit, energet-

ic and ready for anything

— and that's what I try to

teach my students."

28

September 28 2006

"It's so gratifying when they
come back years later to share
their success with me said
Parr, who teaches at Harlan
Elementary in the Birmingham
school district. "I know then it's
all worthwhile."
"We still teach sports skills:'
the West Bloomfield resident
said, "but our main mission is to
teach health concepts through
games and activities as well as
character traits, such as coop-
eration, perseverance and best
effort."
That's one reason her stu-
dents embrace Rope for Heart,
an annual fundraiser for the
American Heart Association.
They jump rope toward rais-
ing about $9,000 each year for
research.
Parr's students also have joined
in a Hop for Leukemia. And they
have made a video about juvenile
diabetes.
Parr, who holds a master's
degree in exercise physiology,
stresses prevention over reha-

bilitation — and being a role
model. "I like to personally be fit,
energetic and ready for anything
— and that's what I try to teach
my students:' she said.
Her curriculum includes
games that expose bad eating
habits. "Every lesson I do has a
cognitive piece to go along with
the physical skills they are learn-
ing," Parr said.
Growing childhood obesity
worries Parr. She wants her stu-
dents to appreciate fitness and
see exercise as fun. "The statistics
are scary:' she said. "Obesity in
children can lead to onset of
Type 2 diabetes as well as being
a significant risk factor in heart
disease. Hopefully, my students
will learn to eat healthy foods,
move around enough and live
tobacco-free."
A popular teaching theme last
year was "5-2-1 GO" every day
— eating five fruits and veggies,
having less than two hours of TV
and computer time, and doing
one hour of physical activity.
Parr also promoted the Dance-
Dance interactive video game, a
fun way to be physically active in
school or at home. Arrows on the
monitor direct how to move your
feet on the dance pads connected
to the game. Levels ratchet up the
difficulty.
"You get feedback through
the screen on how well you are
doing:' Parr said. "You can corn-
pete with yourself or others. I
had my students wear pedom-
eters, so they were counting their
steps while they did it."
Parr also introduces her stu-
dents to yoga.

Worthy Role Model
The Detroit native and University
of Michigan graduate has taught
physical education for 28 years,
16 in Birmingham. The enthu-
siasm of her students motivates
her. "The second that I walk into
my school," she said, "a smile.
appears on my face due to the
positive response I get from the
kids."

Parr keeps fit thanks to daily
cardiovascular workouts. She
chooses from cycling, running,
walking, hiking and swimming.
She does yoga or Pilates several
times a week. She also likes water
skiing, tennis, snow sports and
golf. She doesn't compete in ath-
letics. But she always takes part
in the grueling, annual 300-mile
bicycle ride across Michigan
to benefit the Make A Wish
Foundation.
Parr has always enjoyed
physical activity. That enjoyment
heightened in the 1970s while
researching the physiological
effects of an aerobic dance pro-
gram on women. She was study-
ing toward her master's degree
from Wayne State University in
Detroit. "I got involved work-
ing with the research program
— teaching classes locally and
training instructors across the
U.S., Parr said.
Parr went on to teach fitness
classes for 12 years while rais-
ing three daughters with her
husband, Elliott. "I became com-
mitted when I saw the positive
affects those classes had on my
health, energy and positive dis-
position:' she said.
Not surprisingly, Parr extends
fitness into Jewish communal
work. She's a guiding force
in Greater Detroit Chapter of
Hadassah's Girl Force program
for fourth- through seventh-
graders. Girl Force strives for
health and balance through fit-
ness, nutrition, good self-esteem
and living with Jewish values.
Girl Force sites include syna-
gogues, the Jewish Community
Center and Camp Maas.
"Denise personifies the core
message of Girl Force said
Judi Schram, local Hadassah
president. "When it conies to
the teen exercise component of
Girl Force, Denise lights up the
room with her enthusiasm and
passion. She is a wonderful role
model in the true Hadassah tra-
dition of making a difference."E