Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson and Congressman Braley Check Out Ankeny P.E. Classes

Some students had a couple of celebrities on their team during a heated game of kickball Monday morning.

Olympic gymnast and gold medal winner Shawn Johnson and Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley, of Waterloo, stopped by the Ankeny middle school to check out the school’s use of technology in physical education classes. The duo didn’t hesitate to get in on the action, even participating in a game of kickball and lifting weights alongside students.

“I’ll definitely cherish this,” said Northview eighth-grader Harley Smith. “I was really surprised Shawn would take the time to come visit us.”

Johnson and Braley chose to visit Northview because the school has been recognized by non-profit organization PE4Life as a “model site” for physical education.

Johnson and Braley teamed up in December to introduce the Shawn Johnson Fitness for Life Act, a piece of legislation that seeks to improve physical education programs in schools by emphasizing technology use in teaching.

The legislation would expand a physical education master’s degree program first developed by the University of Northern Iowa and would partner with local schools to incorporate more technology into P.E. classes.

Braley and Johnson checked out a few different P.E. classes Monday morning. Accompanying them was Northview P.E. teacher Jodi Larson, who recently was named 2011 Middle School Physical Education Teacher of the Year.

Larson received the award based partly on her innovative teaching methods to meet the needs of all students. Some of these methods include the students wearing heart rate monitors to keep tabs on their activity level as well as the use of music during class to keep them motivated.

Following class, Braley and Johnson got a chance to chat with students. Johnson made a confession during the conversation.

“I really didn’t like P.E. when I was younger. It wasn’t fun,” she said. “But getting to interact with you guys and see you enjoying it now means a lot. If you don’t enjoy it, you’re not going to continue (to be active) when you get older.”

Johnson told the students she “lives with a heart monitor on.”

“I love my heart rate monitor,” she said. “It’s really a great way to monitor how hard you’re working.”

Johnson also said she was impressed with what she saw at Northview.

"Kids use technology in their lives everyday, from video games to iPods to cell phones," she said. "Incorporating technology in P.E. class is the next step — an opportunity to make exercise more fun."

Eighth-grader Iryl Bacdayan didn’t even know Johnson was coming to her class. Needless to say, she was pleasantly surprised.

“It was pretty cool she had time to stop by,” Bacdayan said. “She had some good words of advice for us.”

Even non-PE students wanted to catch a glimpse of the Olympic gymnast. Many gathered around the mezzanine of the Northview gymnasium to sneak a look before they were ushered off to class.

Smith and Bacdayan both enjoy P.E. more now than they did before the changes were implemented.

“We get choices for what we want to do now,” Smith said.

Larson said Johnson and Braley’s visit meant a lot to the students in her classes.

“I hope they take away that we do have a quality program here and doing things like wearing the heart monitor are lifelong activities,” she said. “Here’s a world-class athlete who can do this, and she’s showing us we can do it as middle school athletes as well.”

Johnson won four medals at the 2008 Beijin Olympics, including a gold for balance beam. The West Des Moines native trains at Chow's Gymnastics in West Des Moines and is seeking a spot on this summer's U.S. gymnastics team competing in the London Olympics. 

Want to see more? Check back later to see video from today's visit by Shawn Johnson and Bruce Braley.