UC Elementary PE Students On “Pace” For Great Things

By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director

Union City, Tenn.–Students at Union City Elementary School have been picking up the “pace” recently.

As part of the PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run) Test, those in Kindergarten-4th Grade have competed to win medals with their best performances in the competition that has been part of regular PE activities at UCES.

The PACER Test is an elevated endurance practice and involves continuous running with pace between two lines in-time to recorded beeps. The initial speed increases every minute and the time between recorded beeps decreases each minute — requiring an increase in pace.

Students continue until they are unable to keep pace with the beeps. They are scored by the number of shuttles reached before they are unable to keep up with the cording for two consecutive ends.

“I’m so proud of the kids and the effort and pride they’ve shown in doing this,” UCES teacher Bill Kail said. “They really look forward to it every year.”

Third graders Eli Rice and Lili Petty were the top runners for the entire school in the project and received special individual trophies for their feats.

The PACER Test has taken the place of the Presidential Challenge in recent years in public education and some results are submitted to the state for their records.

Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to those with the best results from each grade during the competition by UCES physical education teachers Kail, Mason Storey and Nelson Youngblood.

On an unrelated topic, Kail reminded students and their families that Thursday is the final day to donate food items to the annual “Turkey Trot” project that provides food for and helps feed the less fortunate in the community over Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Among the Pacer Test winners were:

KINDERGARTEN

Braxton Phillips, 1^st place, Conor Rice, 2^nd place, Rhylae Young, 3^rd place; Kayleigh Singletary, 1^st place, Kennedy Pate, 2^nd place, Amiyah Wilkins, 3^rd place

FIRST GRADE

Jack Clark, 1^st place, Knox Norsworthy, 2^nd place, Asher Coleman, 3^rd place, Meliahya Morrow, 1^st place, JaToree Spears, 2^nd place, Carlisle Perry, 3^rd place

SECOND GRADE

Porter Robertson, 1^st place, Gabriel Vallee, 2^nd place, Ryder Worrell, 3^rd place, Pilar Martinez-Maldonado, 1^st place, Jade Andrews, 2^nd place (tie), Charlee Smith, 2nd place (tie)

THIRD GRADE

Eli Rice, 1^st place, Sam Kissell, 2^nd place (tie), Boston Riley, 2^nd place, (tie), Lili Petty, 1^st place, Ariel Roberson, 2^nd place, Austyn Dilday, 3^rd place (tie), Ariana Cardena, 3^rd place (tie)

FOURTH GRADE

Jayven Rose, 1^st place, Jaybren Morrow, 2^nd place, Brody Fields, 3^rd place, Tenley Durham, 1^st place, Zowiee Castro, 2^nd place, Selena Lopez-Maldonado, 3^rd place

Photo: Second grade winners.