Sierra Vista Junior High School has received a $226,000 Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) grant, one of the most prestigious federal awards for a physical education program.

Sierra Vista is one of only 96 winners throughout the United State and six in California.

Sierra Vista will use the grant to fund a program the PE staff calls "No Child Left on Their Behinds." The program helps the school move away from the former emphasis on sports to a focus on wellness that will serve students for their whole lives.

Equipment to be purchased by the grant will help PE instructors monitor each student's fitness level and progress.

Teachers will be able to scan results from a student's heart rate monitor to determine the level of fitness and the extent of student effort in relationship to that fitness level, making a PE grade much more objective.

Equipment will be added to the school's fitness center to encourage students to exercise and to monitor student heart rates. The total grant amounts to $260,000 when $34,000 in matching funds is included.

Those include in-kind donations from the district as well as donation of four elliptical trainers by Mountain Medical Group, with a value of more than $17,000.

PE Department Chair George Velarde wrote the grant and will oversee its implementation.

Sierra Vista already has been recognized by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the President's Challenge as a Physical Activity and Fitness Demonstration Center.