RU program moves kids to PEAK performance

As the cold, wintry days creep along, many children may have difficulty finding enough space to roam and play, depriving them of much-needed exercise time.

Radford University's Department of Health and Human Performance (HHP) has a solution with its annual Physical Exercise Activity Kamp (PEAK) program.

Each semester, PEAK program instructors, made up of RU professors and students, provide children, ages 5-11, with Saturday morning activities that include cooperative games, individual and dual activities, team sports, individual motor skill progressions and other recreational activities.

PEAK runs from 9-11 a.m. on five consecutive Saturdays. The first session is Jan. 31 with subsequent dates being Feb. 7, 14, 21 and 28 at RU's Peter's Hall gymnasium.

Registration begins at 8:45 a.m. on Jan. 31. The cost is $30 per child for all five weekends. Cost is reduced for multiple children from the same family.

"PEAK continues to be an important program extension," said HHP instructor Steve Shelton of PEAK, which began at RU in the late 1970s. "Additionally, our young visitors have the opportunity to enjoy and become attracted to a wide variety of physical activities while visiting our first-rate university facility at an affordable cost to families."

The PEAK program also provides RU's HHP majors, many of who are aspiring health and physical education educators, a hands-on teaching opportunity. "These sessions provide our undergraduate students with valuable experiences working with children," Shelton said.

To learn more about PEAK, contact Shelton or sdshelton@radford.edu, Jon Poole at jpoole@radford.edu or Anna Devito at adevito@radford.edu.

PEAK

Participants in the Department of Health and Human Performance PEAK program.

Jan 21, 2015