Volunteer takes a bow -- quickly - Newport Mesa Unified School ...

Volunteer takes a bow -- quickly
Newport Heights Elementary honors Gail Standt, who is responsible for 20 afterschool
programs.
By Michael Miller, Daily Pilot
Gail Standt is a modest woman. Even when her school honors her for her work, she wants
the work -- not herself -- in the spotlight.
Last Thursday, Newport Heights Elementary School awarded a gift basket to Standt, a
parent volunteer who has started 20 after-school programs and a physical education unit in
the past two years. The basket contained coffee grounds, rock candy, a book on parenting
and gift certificates from Garduno's, The Pizza Bakery and half a dozen other restaurants
around town.
So was Standt, who works five days a week at the school, ready to take a break and
celebrate? Not just yet.
"We have softball practice today," she explained after getting the basket, "so we'll probably
have leftovers when we get home."
That, according to her colleagues, is Standt in a nutshell. She'll give her time endlessly to
make sure the students at Newport Heights -- her son and daughter among them -- get the
right amount of exercise, vitamins and produce. Last year, she helped start the After School
Enrichment program at Newport Heights, which features classes in Spanish, chess, dance
and more. But give her praise, and she'll quickly siphon it off.
"One character trait of Gail is to be humble," said Newport Heights principal Kurt Suhr. "She
never wants to take too much credit for the work she's done."
At least one member of the Newport Heights community, though, was happy to give Standt
credit. Dawn Kerrigan, the mother of a kindergartner at the school, set out last month to
gather donations from the community to reward Standt for her services. With a letter
describing the after-school and Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) physical
education programs, Kerrigan visited businesses in the Newport-Mesa area and
accumulated a basket's worth of goods.
In all, Kerrigan received donations from seven different outlets: Celestino's Meats, Plums
Café, Garduno's, The Pizza Bakery, Mi Casa Mexican restaurant, Where's the Party and the
First Page. While Standt receives funding for the CATCH program from the district nutrition
services program, Kerrigan wanted to give her an extra token of gratitude.
"It's just a way of honoring her for everything she's done," said Kerrigan, whose brother,
Marc Africano, teaches sixth grade at Newport Heights. "Last year, when she put together
the PE program, she worked there every day."
Standt and others were inspired to start a new physical education unit at the school after
Newport Heights extended the school day for first through third grades this year. Starting last
fall, younger students got out of school at 2:45 p.m., only five minutes before the upper
classmen.
"Everyone knew there was going to be a longer day for primary students, and with that came
an even greater need for physical education," Suhr explained.
To implement CATCH at Newport Heights, Standt contacted Chris Corliss, the health and
physical education program coordinator for the Orange County Dept. of Education. Working

with Corliss, Newport-Mesa superintendent Robert Barbot and nutrition services director Dick
Greene, Standt organized CATCH as a pilot program for her school.
The CATCH program, developed in the early 1990s as a nationwide research project and
offered statewide in Texas, features four components -- physical activity, classroom
education, community involvement and nutrition. At present, one teacher at each grade level
offers the program at Newport Heights, with a number of parents also volunteering.
"One person doesn't do anything," Standt said. "It takes a big group of people to get
something going."
Among the physical activities offered by CATCH are soccer, tag, running and jump-roping --
activities, Greene said, designed to keep all participants moving at once.
In addition to sports, Newport Heights has also implemented a "produce bar" in the cafeteria
this year, offering fresh fruits and vegetables to students on a daily basis.
"I think one thing that's happened in California is that physical education standards were
finally adopted by the state board last January," Corliss said. "We've never had PE
standards in California, so what's happening now is that the county office is working with the
state office to start the whole process of educating teachers and administrators about PE
instruction."
Although the school is treating CATCH as a pilot program, Suhr said that initial feedback on
the activities has been positive and that more classrooms may adopt the program next year.
"I can't overemphasize how much we appreciate Gail Standt at Newport Heights
Elementary," he said.