Monticello — Imagine a physical education class where a sports icon like Tiger Woods instructs students on how to perfect a golf swing, or Buddy Lee, a USA National Greco-Roman Wrestling champ, teaches a jump rope training program. Students are eager to join in the activity, even if they are not normally involved in athletics.

It's physical education in today's world, and it could be a part of the curriculum for students in both local school systems soon, if the Growing Healthy Kids Coalition receives grant funding for the purchase of 10 HOPSports training systems.

The HOPSports training system is a state-of-the-art teaching tool that helps encourage youth and adults to get up and get moving. The Growing Healthy Kids Coalition has applied for $178,000 in Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant funds that will be used toward the purchase of 10 of the HOPSports systemsÑone for each school in the Wayne County School District and the Monticello Independent School District. There will be an extra unit available at the ASPIRE Center and one at the Extension Office for community use.

Bell Elementary already has a HOPSports system that they have been utilizing for physical education classes this year. It was purchased through a Lake Cumberland District Health Department grant, and is the only one in a Kentucky school system at this time. With the ARC grant, the Growing Healthy Kids Coalition hopes that Wayne County and Monticello schools will become the first two districts in Kentucky to have HOPSports available for every student.

Linda Brown and Gaye Hutchison with the Growing Healthy Kids Coalition were introduced to HOPSports in the fall of 2007 at a state meeting. They both thought it was a great program that would motivate all kids to participate in physical educationÑeven those who were not athletically inclined.

"It's so much fun to be able to participate in this," said Hutchison. "It motivated me to move."

HOPSports uses technology to inspire students. The program is projected onto a large screen, and sports and fitness experts provide instruction on various activities. The system includes lots of activities that normally aren't part of physical education curriculum, like field hockey or golf. It's a fun way to participate and it is in a medium that kids can relate to.

"It's just learning at a level that our kids are used to," said Brown.

And it could help a generation of young people who have weight issues and other related health problems. Research shows that children have become more sedentary, more overweight, and more unproductive academically. They utilize television, computers, and video games as recreational activities.

It's a problem that is magnified for Kentucky. High school students in this state have the highest obesity rate in the country at 16 percent. Kentucky high school students get the least physical education of any students in the nation.

Brown and Hutchison pointed out that many children are now being diagnosed with chronic illnesses that normally occur in adulthood, like diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and even arthritis. This may be the first generation whose life expectancy is shorter than that of their parents.

They both hope that HOPSports is a step in the right direction to get kids to be more active. Hutchison noted that this program reminds her of her childhood, back when kids played instead of relying on video games or computers for recreation.

Each HOPSports training system includes equipment like mats, exercise balls, jump ropes and HOPSticks. The cost is approximately $22,000 and Growing Healthy Kids Coalition originally hoped to be able to raise money to buy one of the systems. But last summer Donna Diaz, with the Lake Cumberland Area Development District, came to speak with the local group.

Afterwards, she talked with them about the possibility of getting grant money, and began to take notes about the HOPSports program. The LCADD wrote the pre-application for a grant for 10 of the systems, and that has been approved. Now, the grant application has been submitted and it could be approved by late summer.

Between now and then the Growing Healthy Kids Coalition has a big task at hand, to raise the 20 percent match for the ARC grant, which is about $44,000. The first fundraising effort began last weekend, when proceeds from the Monticello Woman's Club Cornbread Festival were donated for the project.

Anyone who would like to donate to this fund can do so by contacting Brown or by sending donations to the Wayne County Health Coalition, P.O. Box 1072, Monticello, Kentucky 42633. Make sure and designate that the donation is for Growing Healthy Kids Coalition/HOPSports.