(KIWA Staff Photo)Newton, Iowa (RI) — A new state law makes the updated version of the Presidential Fitness Test a required part of physical-education classes.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Newton Monday to promote the test.
Miller-Meeks and Kennedy met with a group of kids at the Newton YMCA who were trying some of the required exercises. The first national Presidential Fitness Test was conducted in 1956. The test was ended by the Obama Administration in 2013 and replaced with a program promoting heathy eating and physical activity. Secretary Kennedy says retiring the physical-fitness test was a mistake.
All students from kindergarten through high school will receive a certificate for taking the test. To earn the Presidential or National Fitness Award, students must meet certain benchmarks. For example, a 10-year-old boy must hold a plank for nearly two minutes or run a mile in under eight minutes to qualify.
