Physical activity is an important component of The School District of Palm Beach County’s Department of Afterschool Programming. In fact, Afterschool Programs offer a minimum of thirty minutes up to an hour of physical play as part of their daily rotation schedule. Afterschool site directors work in collaboration with the school’s Physical Education teacher to ensure that all students participate in age appropriate activities using age appropriate equipment. All afterschool site staff is required to have a playground safety training at least once annually. This can be done either through the Afterschool Site Director or the Department of Risk & Benefits Management.

• default_titleSPARK Afterschool Premiere Training - In order to align with the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Grant awarded to The School District of Palm Beach County this school year, the Department of Afterschool Programming hosted a SPARK PE Afterschool Premiere training on May 30-31, 2012 at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Thirty one afterschool site directors, assistant directors, and activity leaders attended a two-day physically active workshop in which they were provided with:
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• default_titleorganizational, management, and instructional techniques to teach active physical education
• default_titleinstruction on how to develop, maintain, and increase student health and physical fitness
• default_titleinstruction on how to improve fundamental movement and sports skills
• default_titleinstruction on how to motivate children/adolescents to become active outside of school
• default_titletechniques that encourage students to commit to a lifetime of health and physical fitness
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In addition to attending the training, fifteen afterschool sites purchased the SPARK Physical Education curriculum and began implementing the program at their sites. The training was such a huge success that another will be offered next school year on August 13-14, 2012.

• SPARK Train-the-Trainer...Sara Jones, Director of Community Wellness for the DeVos-Blum Family YMCA, first provided a SPARK Train-the-Trainer workshop for the Department of Afterschool Programming staff and afterschool site directors in 2011. The three hour training gave participants an understanding of the SPARK philosophy of active play for all students and how to weave the program into an existing physical activity schedule. This year 27 afterschool site staff members were trained at the Afterschool Programming Extravaganza held on August 27, 2011. In addition, twelve 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) staff members were trained on May 17, 2012, as SPARK has been implemented in all five 21st CCLC sites.
• Afterschool Physical Games...The Afterschool Physical Games training was designed to teach afterschool site staff the policies and procedures for physical activities in an afterschool setting. This hands-on training provides staff with strategies for incorporating physical activities that are easy to implement, provide inclusion, and are fun and age appropriate for students. Emphasis is placed on keeping students active for the entire period designated for physical play. 146 staff participated in the six trainings offered during the 2011-2012 school year.
• Playground Safety...The Department of Risk & Benefits Management provided five Playground Safety trainings for 137 afterschool employees throughout the 2011-2012 school year. This training reviews measures for keeping students safe during outdoor activities as well as discusses the new procedures for reporting accidents.
• United States Tennis Association (USTA)...Training is provided to afterschool site directors and staff by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) several times per year to ensure that at least one staff member per site is trained in the implementation of a tennis program. In the 2010-2011 school year, approximately 35 afterschool staff participated in this training. This school year, with the introduction of the USTA Kids Tennis Club, three trainings were held and a total of 49 participants were trained. Upon completion of the training, participants were given a playbook filled with tennis activities requiring little equipment and no courts – allowing tennis to be played anywhere with minimal instruction.
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United States Tennis Association (USTA) Florida Afterschool Tennis Program

In the 2008-2009 school year, 94 Palm Beach County School District Afterschool Programs received equipment and Quickstart Tennis curriculum from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to initiate a USTA Florida Afterschool Tennis Program at their sites. Training by the USTA was provided to all afterschool staff. In the 2009-2010 school year, 20 sites actively participated in the program, either as clubs or as part of their regular physical activity rotation schedules. The number of participating sites increased to 37 during the 2010-2011 school year. In a recent survey conducted by the Department of Afterschool Programming, 22 afterschool site directors responded that they continued to use the tennis equipment as part of their regular physical activity rotation schedules. With the introduction of the USTA Kids Tennis Club this school year, the number of afterschool sites implementing a tennis club in their programs is expected to increase. The Kids Tennis Clubs are designed to provide a sample of tennis to students through structured, supervised play.