My kids' school -- Piney Branch Elementary in Takoma Park, Maryland -- is the only elementary school in our county with a pool. That pool, however, is now closed because the local YMCA has decided it no longer wants to operate it.

Prior to the closing, the kids had two multi-week sessions when they used the pool for physical education classes. Pool parties were also used to celebrate big school achievements, and my son always mentioned the pool as the best thing about his school.

My daughter, though, is in her first year at Piney Branch, and may never have a chance to use the now-drained pool. My kids have been very active in a "Save the Pool" campaign, helping to collect signatures and speaking at a town council meeting on the subject.

Finding someone to operate the pool won't be easy, and it's hard to tell at this point if the pool will ever reopen. That would be a shame, and a further example of the decline of physical education in grade schools across the country.

We have a huge child obesity problem in the United States, and supporting physical education is one positive step we can take to help with this. Many schools, like Piney Branch, really stress the academic subjects, which is fine, but we need to exercise our kids' bodies as well as their minds.

The pool is a symbol of this struggle between athletics and academics. You can bet if this was an academic facility a solution would have been worked out by now. We need to treat this with the same zeal, because instilling the importance and interest in exercise is just as important a life lesson for our kids.

The past two years my son came home from school all excited when a swimming unit was about to start, and it was something my daughter most looked forward to about her new school.

This is about much more than some physical education classes. The pool was and can be again a valuable community resource for people of all ages, but only if we make it happen. No matter the decision, our kids will get one of two messages: the pool is important enough to save, or it isn't.

It can literally be a life-changing experience in terms of shaping their views on exercise and physical fitness, not to mention the power of the people. It's a battle worth fighting for.