News and Events

 Cycling for change: After-school program helping thousands of Pajaro Valley children get fit

Santa Cruz Sentinel

October 6, 2009

By DONNA JONES

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_13495286

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http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_13495286>

WATSONVILLE -- When international velodrome cycling champion Stephen

Alfred was growing up in Trinidad, just about every kid rode a bicycle.

So when he arrived in the PajaroValley four years ago, he was surprised

to learn that most children didn't own bikes and many couldn't ride one.

He set out to change that, teaching cycling to thousands of

Watsonville area students through a PajaroValleyUnifiedSchool District

after-school program called Fitness 4 Life.

nutrition education to fight an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, has

earned PajaroValley the title 2009 Governor's Council on Physical

Fitness and SportCentralCoastRegionSchool District of the Year.

or three kids and see them ride by themselves with a big smile on their

faces," Alfred said.

Monday, there were lots of smiles as close to 20 seventh-graders circled

a ball field at CesarChavezMiddle School, learning to brake and switch

gears on the program's mountain bikes. But Fitness 4 Life is about more

than having a good time.

A 2005 study by the California Center for Public Health Policy found 36

percent of PajaroValley fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders were obese,

compared to 24 percent of Santa CruzCounty students. And as obesity

rates climb, so does the risk of diabetes and other health problems.

The after-school program is about changing lives, said Jen Bruno,

Fitness for Life coordinator.

as part of a larger enrichment and intervention program, then an hour in

Fitness 4 Life, where in addition to cycling, they have the opportunity

to swim, dance, play soccer and take cooking and nutrition classes.

At Cesar Chavez, about a third of the nearly 600 students participate.

Districtwide, 22 schools and about 6,000 students are taking part this

year, including 35 high-schoolers who are trained as assistant teachers

and work either on a volunteer basis to earn community service hours or

are paid minimum wage.

Joe Trautwein, director of extended learning and student services,

worries about sustaining the program, however. The entire after-school

program costs about $7 million annually, funded mostly by state and

federal grants. But the fitness program has relied on a grant from the

S.H. Cowell Foundation, which has provided an average of $200,000

annually for the past five years. That grant may be ending this year.

Trautwein is hoping Cowell will continue to provide funding and he's

hoping to find other financing sources as well.

"It's a big expensive program, and we need help to make it work,"

Trautwein said.