The video screens that some West Oak Middle School students will be watching next school year during gym class aren’t meant to create even more couch potatoes.
Instead the viewing will be part of the school’s high-tech effort to get 6th, 7th and 8th graders more interested in exercise.
Thanks to a $105,000 U.S. Department of Education grant, the school soon will buy state-of-the-art workout machines equipped with PlayStation video hookups, officials say.
The video arrays will allow students using the rowers and stationary bikes to watch imaginary rivers and roads as they work out.
The school also will buy an arcade game that encourages dance using lighted footprints.
The approach is relatively new for middle schools, said Barb Menge, one of West Oak’s two physical education teachers.
“I want these kids to go out and have fun, even if they’re not athletes,” Menge said.
