NM to Hire Elementary PE Teachers

The Gadsden Independent School District will receive $1.8 million from the New Mexico Department of Education to improve the health and physical education of students in the district.

District officials said the Department of Education is allocating a total of $8 million throughout the state to hire certified physical education teachers.

"We've had P.E. at our elementary schools for about 10 years, but it wasn't regulated or funded by the state. We just felt the need to do that, to provide that service for the kids," Gadsden schools Superintendent Ron Haugen said. "This gives us an opportunity to get certified instructors to teach P.E. and health."

Haugen said that because of the epidemic of childhood obesity around the country, he was glad that state officials decided to give school districts money to improve their health curriculum.

Visit Peaceful Playgrounds to view documents for improving your physical education curriculum. Some of the documents you might find of assistance include: Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT), and Physical Education Program Checklist.