As the WellFit for Life program rolls on and a national consciousness of the childhood obesity issue grows, many in our community are taking greater stock of their health and fitness. Fortunately, the students and staff of Cimmaron Memorial H.S. looking to adopt and/ or maintain a healthy lifestyle always know that they need not look beyond their own walls for an excellent role model of their cause. For the last three years, they have been able to turn to Jessica Fasulo in their Physical Education Department for inspiration, motivation and knowledge.

It is little surprise to those who know her that Jessica has been a longstanding foundation of health and fitness motivation to those around her. She joined the CCSD after completing an undergraduate degree in sociology and an MA in School Health Education. While completing her graduate work at Adelphi University, located in her hometown of Long Island, New York, she arduously trained for and completed iron woman competitions as well as the Boston Marathon.

It was during the frigid months of training for marathons and iron woman events that she realized she was ready to go West. Luckily for us, that decision led her to Las Vegas, where she now serves as a physical and health education teacher and coach for Cimmaron's boys' cross country team. In addition to continuing her training (as the images to the right can contend) during her time in Las Vegas, she has devoted herself to educating, inspiring and motivating her students and colleagues to take a greater role in ensuring their long-term health.

Of course, Jessica will be the first to admit that this quest comes with challenges and obstacles that must be addressed. For herself, she had to learn to keep pushing forward despite battling skin cancer, something that would likely deflate the motivation of most. When it comes to the motivation of her students, it can be difficult to get them to think about their health years down the road when they are often in the peak of their healthiest years. She finds the best way to overcome such challenges is to "keep up enthusiasm about the material so that your energy can be used in education. The kids feel and feed off that energy, which can help keep them attentive and interested in the information you are providing."

Her colleagues, who nominated her for this issue's H.E.R.O.S., know that Jessica's energy and devotion has and continues to set the standard for healthy living at Cimmaron. Nonetheless, she continues to set goals for improvement of health education. In the coming years, she is looking for ways to improve parental involvement in health and fitness, make physical education a bigger part of the curriculum and create after-school programs that appeal to students either uninterested in or intimidated by athletic competition.

To close my discussion with Jessica, I asked her to provide some advice for her CCSD colleagues currently participating in the WellFit for Life program. She offers the following advice: "Keep the end goal in mind, or you will become complacent. Some days will be harder than the others, and it is on those days that you have to remember the desired end result, the reason why you are doing what you're doing, so you stay motivated."

Philip DiGiacomo
Contributor

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