25 JOPERD • Volume 78 No. 5 • May/June 2007 N early half of youths between the ages of 12 and 21 are not vigorously active on a regular basis (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). If the educational setting is to play a role in meeting national health objectives for youths, the school environment needs to promote opportunities for physical activity. Hence, the purpose of this article is to help physical education teachers to start a comprehensive physical activity program that refl ects effective teaching practices, such as increased engagement during physical education and student accountability, and that emphasizes contemporary practices such as instant activity, modifi ed games, active recess, intramurals, drop-in activity periods, and participation in school wellness initiatives. Physical Activity and Youths Regular engagement in physical activity presents a wealth of benefi ts to those who participate (Strong et al., 2005). Some of these benefi ts are immediate while others occur over time. Unfortunately, today’s children and adolescents generally fail to meet the national physical activity recommendation to participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2004; President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 2005). This is alarming because physical inactivity contributes to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes, and it is related to the onset of other precursors to metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Youths who regularly participate in physical activity are more likely to have normal body weight, an improved self-concept, and perhaps even higher levels of physical fi tness (i.e., muscular strength) (Strong et al., 2005). More important, childhood physical activity has the potential to continue into adulthood, thus improving the quality of life and limiting the prevalence of risk factors related to serious diseases in later life (Janz, Dawson, & Mahoney, 2000). Recently, several studies have demonstrated positive relationships between cognition and both physical activity (Coe, Pivarnik, Womack, Reeves, & Malina, 2006; Shephard, 1997; Sibley & Etnier, 2003; Tomporowski, 2003) and physical fi tness (Castelli, 2005; Castelli, Hillman, Buck, & Erwin, in press; Hillman, Castelli, & Buck, 2005). Furthermore, children who meet the Healthy People 2010 guidelines for vigorous activity may do better in school (Coe et al., 2006). Therefore, it is im- portant to realize that the rate of physical activity engagement and maintenance of physical fi tness may not only have valuable health benefi ts, but may enhance academic performance in school Becoming the Physical Activity Director Efforts to maximize physical activity opportunities in the schools must be thought- fully planned and coordinated. Physical educators are ideally positioned to address The Physical Education Teacher as School Activity Director DARLA M . CASTELLI AARON BEIGHLE STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE Physical educators’ knowledge and training qualify them to play a leading role in promoting school wellness.