The next week I met with  the principal of our local elementary school to explain the importance of introducing programs that would encourage healthy habits in children, the benefits of doing so and how I could work with the staff. I was sure she was going to be as excited about this as I was. Boy was I wrong. I couldn't even generate a modicum of interest. This was not going to be as easy as I had hoped. In fact, this was going to be extremely difficult if not impossible. 

But I was not going to give up. I scheduled an appointment with the school district superintendent to share my ideas with him. Over the next several years we had numerous conversations on the topic. I explained to him that corporations found that by offering wellness programs to their employees, many positive outcomes occurred. They were able to reduce absenteeism, improve morale and increase performance. I suggested that if  schools would provide wellness-based physical education classes, the same benefits that corporations were seeing  should also occur in the schools. It would be anticipated that attendance should improve, grades and tests scores should also increase and student moral should be better as well.  I explained how easy it would be to implement. It seemed like a no-brainer to me. I thought we could serve as a role model for schools all over the country. 

Instead, what I learned is that school districts place their emphasis on their students' grades and test scores, how they compare to other schools in the area, in the state and around the country and focus their attention on how to improve them. I also discovered that changes in school curriculum happen very, very  slowly.