Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/695013
37 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP KIDS B ronwynBrantley enjoys running track almost as much as she enjoys swimming. Swimming is the best, of course, aside from chess. There's nothing better than chess — well, except ballet. Ballet beats chess and everything else in Bron - wyn's busy life. Just a few weeks ago, in fact, the 7-year-old went for her annual checkup. The pediatrician asked about her activities. Bronwyn mentioned ballet. "Tell me about it," he said. She had no intention of telling him about it. "Let meshow you," she said. With that, the Oakland native unleashed her best Misty Cope - land impression — smack in the middle of the tiny exam room. "She's eager to show what she can do," says Bronwyn's mother, Helena. "She can see her own progress, and it seems to have emboldened her." Bronwyn isn't alone. She's like millions of other elementary school children for whom activi - ties are an essential part of their daily lives. Is this thirst for action — through sports or music, art or dance — an instinctive desire to carve out an identity separate from those of their parents and siblings? Is the explanation even simpler, rooted in nothing more than the urge to have fun? From an evolutionary stand - point, taking part in sports and activities can be traced back millions of years, when socializ- ing became necessary for early Bronwyn Brantley, 7, pictured here and on the opening page, dances with her sister, Avery, 5, at Oakland School for the Arts. "She's eager to show what she can do," says Bronwyn's mother, Helena.