April 24, 2008
Las Vegas TV Station Covers PVES Mile Run

Photo by Dave Maxwell Beginning of the PVES Mile Run.

By Dave Maxwell, Staff Writer

Students at Pahranagat Valley Elementary School, grades 1-5, participate in PE four days a week. 4th grade teacher Gary Jorgenson said “It helps get the kids physically fit so they perform better while they’re in the classroom. We give them a 40-minute workout every day in the multipurpose room.” Jorgenson explained, “We do tumbling exercises, badminton, floor hockey, jump rope, and all kinds of things to get the kids hearts beating strong and be physically fit for us. The kids love it; they can’t wait to get in there every day.”

The school wanted to show the parents what the students have been doing and get them involved in some event, so on April 18 the school sponsored a mile-run, starting and finishing at the school.

KLAS-TV, the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas, heard of the event and sent reporter Dave McCann and cameraman Bill Rowe to Alamo to cover the run. McCann has an occasional segment on his morning news program called “What’s Cool in School,” and said he thought it would be a perfect fit for his segment. “We go around to different schools (mostly in the metropolitan area) to show off some of the cool things that go on that a lot of people don’t know about,” he said.

McCann and Rowe ran with the kids following a route that went from the school east to Main Street, north on Main to 2nd North, then west on 2nd North and back to the school. It was just a fun run for kids and parents (those that wanted to) to do together.

McCann said, “We ask that ideas be sent in to us and when this one came, even though it’s a long ways away, we thought what a cool thing for a whole school to do, to run together and work on being physically fit.”

McCann did on camera interviews with school principal, Dr. Ken Higbee, some of the teachers and a few of the students. He said the Alamo segment will air sometime in May and they will let the school know about a week in advance.

“There are so many good things, and usually done by volunteers, that never gets mentioned,” he said. “That’s what brought us up to Alamo, to show it off. The volunteers that do the programs often don’t get the due, but on our morning program, we make sure that they do. This P.E. class in Alamo is just one of many good cool things going on in Southern Nevada.”