Hopkins Elementary receives grant from health department

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Pictured left to right, front row, Tucker Powers, Landon Powell, Emily Vaught and Sydney Wilson, all fourth grade students; middle row, Robin Wilson, Jennifer Coldiron and Lucus Ford, teachers at Hopkins Elementary, and Natalie True, health educator at the Lake Cumberland District Health Department; back row, Fonda Crawford, principal of Hopkins Elementary, Dr. Teresa Wallace, superintendent of the Somerset School District, Shawn Crabtree, executive director of the Lake Cumberland District Health Department, Peggy Dancy, nurse supervisor at the health department, Lisa Harris, office manger at the health department, Patty Burton, health educator, and Freda Bishop, assistant principal at Hopkins Elementary. Susan Wheeldon Photo

December 15, 2008

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By SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Mon Dec 15, 2008, 07:12 AM EST

Officials at Hopkins Elementary School hope a grant they received from the Lake Cumberland District Health Department will help motivate their children to be healthier.

The grant for $15,850 will support the school in developing a nutrition and/or physical activity program or project to be implemented in the school.

Fourth grade teacher Jennifer Coldiron said Hopkins will be using the money for a health and wellness initiative and it will give students the opportunity to take part in exercise and nutrition-type classes and activities.

“We’re especially trying to ward off obesity,” said Robin Wilson, fourth grade teacher at the school.

“Nationwide childhood obesity issues we hear about and in our own school (both) are alarming,” added Coldiron.

Shawn Crabtree, executive director of the Lake Cumberland District Health Department, noted that childhood obesity is a serious public health epidemic and that during the past four decades, obesity rates have soared among all age groups. He said since the 1970s the percentage of individuals who are overweight has tripled. Among children ages 6 to 11 that number has increased fivefold.

The executive director of the health department also said studies have shown over a 10-year period that both children and teens on average consume 110 to 165 more calories than they burn each day, which means an excess of about 10 pounds per year, per person.

“Overweight adolescents have up to an 80 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults,” said Crabtree. “If they are still obese in their 20s, the odds of premature death are between 50 percent to 100 percent.”

Coldiron and Wilson said all of the classes with the initiative will be available during the school day through their physical education class and during part of their recess time.

Students at Hopkins Elementary get two 30-minute sessions a week of physical education class.

However, Wilson said, once they implement the program they will use part of every recess for walking time. She said they will also screen students’ weight and height every nine weeks instead of just once a year like they had done in the past.

“Their target goals will be revealed to them in health and PE,” said Coldiron.

The grant will also address the nutrition aspect of wellness in health classes, Wilson explained, as materials that the school will be able to purchase will greatly supplement what they already have at the school.

Coldiron said the school plans to purchase the materials over the holiday break coming up and hope to have everything in place to begin the program soon after they return to school in January.

“It is our hope from the health department to inspire kids for a lifelong goal,” said Crabtree.

And since the materials will be sustainable, Wilson said, they will be able to continue the program after this year ends.

Crabtree said generally the health board shows favoritism to programs that are sustainable and if the program shows good results they can share the program with others.

“We live in one of the most unhealthy places in the world,” said Crabtree, “as the country ranks 45th in the industrial world and Kentucky is at the bottom of the nation. We’re just tired of being at the bottom.

“... We’re trying to inspire people to be creative about the issue,” added Crabtree.

Hopkins Principal Fonda Crawford said she appreciates Coldiron and Wilson for writing the grant after they saw the need. Crawford added that she appreciates the health department for reaching out to the schools.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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