Many of the state's physical education students will benefit this fall because their teachers had a ball this week - actually several large, inflatable balls.

Ranging in size from 2 feet in diameter to 6 feet, the balls are lightweight and colorful. The teachers dodged them, ran under them and passed them through circles at a workshop sponsored by the North Dakota Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

The workshop helped teachers learn new activities, which keep their classes fresh and interesting. They also learned about health-related topics including North Dakota's Tobacco Settlement from former state's attorney general Heidi Heitkamp.

"We want our kids to be active, learning and having fun," said Lorraine Lutjens, who attended the workshop and teaches P.E. to eighth-graders at Bismarck's Horizon Middle School. "If we disguise the fitness activities with fun, we improve the chance that the kids will do it on their own."

Lutjens, who has taught P.E. since 1970, says her classes have evolved over the past 30 years. She now integrates more technology in her classes and emphasizes activities that children can use throughout their lives - including cooperative games.

On Monday, Lutjens played a cooperative game of dodge ball with several large, inflatable balls.

Teams of two teachers each held hands as they darted right or left to escape being hit by one of several balls.

If one teacher jumped left and the other jumped right, chances are the ball hit them.

"I like games that help students learn how to work together," she said. "You can teach social skills while keeping them active and having fun."

Keeping her classes interesting is one reason why Donna Hutchison, who teaches at Red River High School in Grand Forks, attends the association's workshops.

"I never repeat an activity more than two days in a row," she said, "so I need a lot of activities."

She said the workshop instructors give her new ideas and help her change existing activities. For instance, her students were used to playing ultimate Frisbee, so she exchanged a football for the Frisbee. Then she exchanged the football for a stuffed toy and introduced a garbage can for a goal.

One of the activities at this year's workshop involved stacking plastic cups in a timed event.

By itself, students learn dexterity skills, but she said the event can be further changed to involve a relay where two teams of students compete against each other.

"The trick is to find things that kids like," she said. "No two kids are alike, and no two classes are alike. So you learn to adapt. This is where you get great ideas that you can apply in school."

Lutjens, who has also attended the organization's regional and national workshops, said P.E. teachers in North Dakota are ahead of teachers in other parts of the country because they attend workshops and learn from each other.

"If I'm going to be a teacher, I'm also going to be a professional," she said. "This is how you keep your curriculum up to date."

(Reach reporter Steve Van Dyke at 250-8225 or stevev@ndonline.com.)