Children in Freeman's physical education classes toss rubber

chickens, learn about stress management and use a game of freeze

tag to brush up on math and spelling skills.



"We're not traditional," she said Wednesday afternoon.



Freeman's inventive style has attracted the attention of the

Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education,

Recreation and Dance, which this week named her its statewide

physical education teacher of the year.



The organization will present the award in November, and Freeman,

who has taught for seven years at Price, 615 Fairview Ave., will

automatically be entered in the organization's national competition.



In addition to working with other schools in School District of

Lancaster to continuously revamp theirs physical education and

health curricula, Freeman uses her class periods at Price to meld

academics, traditional sports and a cooperative, egalitarian spirit.



"Every kid has their own piece of equipment and should work at

their own level," she said. "I really hope that none of the

students leave hating or disliking PE. This is elementary school;

there's no pressure. Kids should just be kids and do what they can."



For example, younger children play with foam disks instead of

Frisbees and use "lollipops," multicolored foam circles on sticks,

instead of tennis rackets.



For children with disabilities, Freeman uses large rubber

chickens, frogs and pigs to play catch.



The school offers a range of intramurals -- from dance club to

volleyball to flag football.



Children in Freeman's classes exercise their brain as well as

their brawn.



As a warmup, students sometimes run back and forth between

Hula-Hoops, dropping one letter into a hoop on each trip to spell a

word Freeman has picked.



Freeman's classes also play a modified version of freeze tag: All

children have math or word problems taped to their shirts, and the

student who is unfreezing a comrade has to solve each problem.



A galaxy of posters hang on the gym's upper walls touting

surprisingly adult concepts like stress management, locomotive

skills, skill-related components and cardio-respiratory health.



Students learn the names of muscles and bones in Freeman's class,

write occasional journals about what they're learning and can check

out a book from their teacher's mini-library on sports and health

topics.



"I wanted to keep phys ed going," she said, explaining her

motivation for adding academics to her classes. "The arts and music

part of school budgets are being decreased or slashed."



Her gym doubles as a cafeteria and triples as an auditorium, so

Freeman is able to offer students physical education only twice a

week.



"To get a gym of my own is my dream," she said. "I want to offer

PE five days a week."


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