For Parks Nominee, Focus Is On Fitness

Improving Kids' Health Is Priority for Official

In a stylish blue suit and heels, Ximena Hartsock wasn't exactly the image of a coach as she stood in the middle of a basketball court as children ran wind sprints at the Hillcrest Community Center.

"They should be sweating," said Hartsock, the newly appointed acting head of the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, as she watched the children.

The children ran and did push-ups and jumping jacks as part of a program designed to curtail childhood obesity in wards east of the Anacostia River.

"A healthy mind and a healthy body go together," Hartsock said.

Before she was picked by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) to replace ousted parks director Clark E. Ray, Hartsock, 39, was deputy chief of the Office of Teaching and Learning in the D.C. public school system. Hartsock, serving under Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, was in charge of summer school, as well as after-school and Saturday school programs.

Although Fenty lauded Ray and previous directors when he announced Hartsock's appointment last month, his strongest praise was reserved for Hartsock, whom he selected without interviewing any other candidate.

"She is fantastic. She is a sound manager," Fenty said. "And at this stage of her tenure that I have seen in the short time that I have been mayor, and despite a lot of great work by other directors going all the way back to Neil Albert, there still is a need for a lot of change, and I think that Dr. Hartsock is the right person at the right time to bring about that change."

D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) said Hartsock must be endorsed by the legislative branch.

"We are having confirmation hearings," he said, adding that "she has an educational background that is pretty strong."

Hartsock has a doctorate in leadership, educational administration and policy studies from George Washington University. She also has a master's degree in education from the University of La Serena in Chile, as well as undergraduate degrees in philosophy and Spanish education from the same school. After completing her undergraduate studies, Hartsock taught high school in Chile and elementary school in Virginia.

Over the past four years, she has gone from being an assistant principal at Harriett Tubman Elementary School to principal of Ross Elementary School, where her students posted gains in reading and math on the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System, and then to the D.C. public schools administrative post.

As a member of the transition team for the public school system in 2007, after Fenty took office, she worked in areas including school leadership, bilingual education and foreign languages. While serving as deputy chief of the Office of Teaching and Learning, she expanded after-school, weekend and summer school programs.

In addition to cutting the budget and managing the parks and recreation staff, one of the biggest issues facing Hartsock would be deciding whether the early-childhood program will remain in the parks department. "I haven't decided," she said.

Fenty has said that he wants the department to be in the business of recreation. Hartsock said she wants children to be involved in old-fashioned recreational activities, but with structure and goals. "It needs to be deliberate goals for them to be moving," she said. "It has to be something that they want to do. We have to engage them."

In the middle of the exercise program at Hillcrest, Hartsock stopped to praise the runners and put in a plug for the mayor.

"What is something that the mayor always does ?" she asked one of the students.

"He runs," was the response.

Several of those who have worked with Hartsock in the public school system praised her work ethic.

Mike Connors, a teacher at Bell Multicultural High School, has known Hartsock since she was principal at Harriett Tubman. "She is outstanding and an inspiration," he said.

Alex Cardozza, who also worked with Hartsock, said, "She is very dedicated in that when she wants to fix something, it will get done."

Hartsock described the Parks and Recreation Department as a customer service agency. "It's about having great programs, for all interests and people of all ages," she said.

On future visits to recreation centers, Hartsock said, she plans to exchange her business suit for a warm-up suit so she can sweat with her young constituents. "I go down into the trenches. If you don't do that, people won't have any respect for you," she said.

"It is critical that we have young people who are healthy, and that has to do with nutrition, exposure to the right activities, and it has to do with things for them to do," Hartsock said. "This is the perfect job to help people live longer and safer. This is the perfect job for me."