Shaping Up, Voluntarily So

Ask the average elementary school teacher what is the most difficult thing to teach, says Ruth Jackson, principal at Vintage Elementary School in Sepulveda, and the teacher will probably say it’s physical education.

So when GTE, which adopted Vintage under the Los Angeles City School System’s Adopt-a-School program, provided volunteers to help enhance the physical education program at the school, fifth-grade teachers were quick to welcome them. The school system’s program is designed to bring together community businesses and local schools.

Two telephone linemen worked out on the playground with Vintage’s 91 fifth-graders, preparing them for the spring California Fitness and Health-Related Test by conditioning exercises and ones to strengthen the upper body and develop agility. “The kids brag about what they’re able to do; they’re crazy about these guys, excited that they’re here,” Jackson says. “And the girls are as equally involved as the guys,” she says.

Other volunteers, who come to the campus for an hour a week, provide a range of services including tutoring and bilingual tutoring.