Physical Education

Josephine Ella "Jo" Fiske, a longtime physical-education professor, coach and referee at Goucher College who ran races into her 90s, died Monday of a stroke at the Edenwald retirement community in Towson. She was 101. "She believed in doing what she practiced and practicing what she says," said her second cousin, Carol Parmenter of Roland Park. Miss Fiske was born in Greenfield, Mass., and graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1926. She also studied at the Boston College of Physical Education.

Jesse L. Thomas, a Baltimore Colts defensive back in the 1950s who then spent four decades at Morgan State University, serving for several years as its head football coach, died of dementia complications May 16 at his Columbia home. He was 83. Born in Guthrie, Okla., and raised in Flint, Mich., he was a much-praised athlete at its Central High School, where he was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. He was Flint's 1945 Athlete of the Year and held letters in basketball, baseball, track and football.

Bashers of physical education have had a proverbial field day shrinking the subject nationally, as well as in Maryland and in Howard County, in recent years. For example, the only physical-education requirement for graduation from a Maryland public high school is completion - between ninth and 12th grades - of two of 16 quarters in the subject. Another: Howard middle-schoolers can opt to start studying a foreign language or playing a stringed instrument - if they forgo phys ed. Now, reputable researchers in medicine and education are identifying disturbing fallout: America has huge, growing numbers of fat, sedentary children with little knowledge of diet, activity and how the body functions best.

Chesapeake High School athletic director Chip Snyder, who was relieved of his duties pending a school board investigation regarding the Chesapeake wrestling team, has been reinstated to his position, Anne Arundel school officials said Friday. Snyder, who also teaches physical education at the school, was removed from the athletic director position while the school board investigated allegations that procedures weren't followed during a December wrestling trip to the Eastern Shore and that the breakdown in protocol could have diminished students' safety.

Jesse L. Thomas, a Baltimore Colts defensive back in the 1950s who then spent four decades at Morgan State University, serving for several years as its head football coach, died of dementia complications May 16 at his Columbia home. He was 83. Born in Guthrie, Okla., and raised in Flint, Mich., he was a much-praised athlete at its Central High School, where he was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. He was Flint's 1945 Athlete of the Year and held letters in basketball, baseball, track and football.

Being creative about teaching physical education is essential and long overdue! ("Getting exercised over exercise," March 28). Students in Maryland are craving opportunities to move and be more fit! There are numerous studies that show the benefits of exercise on increasing test scores, reducing stress and improving self-esteem. It is critical that the Maryland state and local school boards evaluate their PE requirements and adopt creative new policies expanding fitness opportunities in the classroom.

A bill that would have increased physical education class time in elementary schools to 150 minutes a week died in a House of Delegates committee yesterday. The bill, sponsored by Baltimore County Sen. Jon S. Cardin, would have brought Maryland schools in line with national guidelines that say students ages 5 to 12 should get at least 30 minutes of physical activity and education a day. Most Maryland schools now offer 60 to 90 minutes of physical education a week. The bill received support from only two members of the House Ways and Means Committee -- Cardin, a Democrat, and Del. Jay Walker, a Prince George's County Democrat.

It wasn't an easy decision, but probably a wise one for Arundel's Bernie Walter.The Wildcats' baseball coach will step down at the end of this season as coach, athletic director and chairman of physicaleducation at the Gambrills school to become the county coordinator of physical education.Acting coordinator Rick Wiles will become assistant to Walter, who succeeds Paul Rusko. Rusko retired at the end of last year, but came back in the fall on a personal services contract.Due to the current budget crunch, the county was not expected to fill the position this year.

Margaret H. Wharton, a retired high school physical-education teacher and coach, died Tuesday at Gull Creek Retirement Community in Berlin of complications from cancer. She was 83. Born in Princess Anne, she earned a degree at the College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark. She began teaching physical education at schools in Westminster, Mount Airy and Sykesville in the early 1940s. She moved to Annapolis and taught in the Anne Arundel County system from 1943 to 1953, when she joined the Baltimore County public schools.

Alvin H. "Bud" Noble, a retired Baltimore City public school teacher who bought tennis shoes for poor pupils so they could take his physical education classes without difficulty, died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday at his Towson home. He was 81. Born in Chicago, Mr. Noble earned a bachelor's degree in physical education and a master's in education from the University of Illinois, the latter in 1949. He moved to Baltimore after teaching anatomy at the university for a year. He took a job in 1951 teaching physical education at what was then Robert Poole Junior High, and retired from the school in Hampden in 1977.

Dr. Alva "Buzz" Baker , of Sykesville, received the alumni professional achievement award from McDaniel College. He is a 1966 alumnus of Western Maryland (now McDaniel) College. Presented annually during McDaniel's Homecoming, the alumni professional achievement award is presented to a graduate who has gained distinction in his/her chosen field or profession and whose accomplishments reflect admirably on McDaniel College. He is currently director of McDaniel's Center for the Study of Aging and continues to teach in the college's Gerontology programs.

Robert A. Gibson, a retired educator and former superintendent of Cecil County public schools, died Nov. 4 of spinal cancer at his home in Port Herman. He was 93. The son of farmers, Dr. Gibson was born and raised in Rising Sun. After graduating from North East High School in 1935, he earned a bachelor's degree in 1939 in health and physical education from Springfield College in Springfield, Mass. He earned both his master's and doctorate from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Since the spring, I have heard about the flap over the absence of middle school recess at Roland Park Elementary/Middle School. Recess is a no-brainer. When I volunteered to work with middle school children there last year, they were bright, alert and well prepared. By the end of our session, they were wiggly and wanting to talk to one another. They were pre-teens. They were not on cell phones; they were not trying to start fights. They were simply adolescent and restless. I am no educator.

While No Child Left Behind continues to be underfunded, and Race to the Top may reward schools in affluent communities, please consider that the goal that all students read by 8th grade may not be viable, as one-fifth of the population has a learning difference and might require more time. Further, mainstream and special education students tend to learn best when educators match the way they teach with the way students learn. In fact, Harvard Medical School and others have proven that the arts such as music and exercise increase learning ability, validating maintaining physical education, recess, and arts classes in the core curriculum.

For the past two years, James Nasty has co-hosted the Physical Education dance party at Ottobar each Friday, spinning everything from Basement Boys to Future Islands. This Friday, Nasty will not only host TT the Artist's birthday party at Ottobar, but he'll be shooting footage for his first music video. His sets are eclectic, so it's no surprise his answers for Like/Dislike are, too. What's on your iPod? Rye Rye's latest mixtape, RYEOT POWRR , with the homie, DJ Sega, Hall and Oates' Greatest Hits and the new LMFAO album, Sorry For Party Rocking . I also put tunes I have in the works on my iPod.

Ann P. "Nip" Melocik, a retired parochial school physical education instructor, died Wednesday of heart failure at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The Loch Raven Village resident was 80. The daughter of a restaurateur and a homemaker, the former Ann Palmisano was born in Shamokin, Pa. She moved to Hamilton with her family in 1940 when her father opened several Palmisano's Sub Shops in the area. "She got her nickname 'Nip' from taking a little sip of her father's drink, so he named her 'Nipper,' and then everyone began calling her 'Nip,'" said a niece, Wendy Strassner of Atlanta.

Eberhard Stubenrauch, a popular physical education teacher who designed the program at St. James Academy in Monkton, died April 20 of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The longtime Sparks resident was 61. Mr. Stubenrauch also was director of summer and winter camps for Gerstung, a gymnastics school for children in Bare Hills. He was a teacher at St. James for 26 years and also had taught at several other area schools. At St. James, he designed and, with help from parents, installed an outdoor fitness course that was named in his honor.