By Valerie Cook
Archery, 5K runs and fly-fishing are all part of a regular high school physical education class, right?! Okay, maybe not normally, but it is in my classroom. Freshmen girls at Christian Academy of Louisville (CAL) are all being exposed to things outside of the “everyday” PE class.
My hope is to bare new ideas of activities to keep them physically active. Girls want to be fit, but for some, trying to do so can be boring, scary, or overwhelming.
In the normal, everyday classroom kids usually learn the basic sports and activities such as basketball, softball, mile run, dodge ball, floor hockey, kickball and other related activities. It is what we were taught when we were in middle and high school — back in the day, as you would say. Now, schools are starting to step it up. In order to get more students off the couch, away from the TV, and to re-build their self esteem, you have to entice them with something that they can be good at and something that won't require a team, great physical ability or age requirements to be able to do the activity. They have to understand that exercise and fitness can be more than just side cramps, pain, embarrassment, and sweating. It can be fun, too! The best part is that exercise doesn't have to be done alone, with a team, and it can be done within their daily schedule.
One of the requirements for my freshmen girls, as a major part of their grade, is to participate in a 5K run/walk anywhere in the United States by the end of the semester. The purpose is to get them involved in the community, to do good for other people, become familiar with what the fund-raising events are about, and to get them out of the house and active all at the same time.
Students are given a handout of 5K's within the area during the months of August through December. The requirements are as follows: 1) a photo of themselves with their numbers on at the finish line of the 5K with the clock in the background; 2) may run it or walk it; 3) may do the 5K with friends or family members; 4) must have it completed by mid-December; 5) turn the photo and number in no later than 3:05pm on Dec. 15; 6) include their time from the 5K written on the back of the number. Students generally have no problem getting this activity done by December — in fact, most are done by the end of October. Then again, there are a few that tend to procrastinate until December arrives. They are usually left with only an 8K Santa hike in the snow in Indiana.
The students generally find that the 5K was more exciting than expected. All of the people cheering, the number of runners/walkers participating in the 5K, people handing out drinks and fruit, the funny shirts/outfits people wore, how nice the people were throughout the race, discovering that the entry fees went to a good cause — all seemed to make their experience a reason to participate in another 5K in the future. Some even decide to make it a yearly tradition with their families. And some just want to mark it as an accomplishment that they never thought they would or could achieve.
Don't get me wrong, there are students that already do 5Ks, 10Ks, minis, marathons, triathlons, or even run cross country, so it isn't foreign to everyone. But there are those unexpected students that ask if it would be possible to get extra credit for another 5K they want to do in the upcoming week. That is when you realize that it was a success the event was. It was worth all of the planning, all of the talks, all of the whining, all of it in order to hear one or two students wanting more because they found their gift or their significance. They found a way to get fit.
In addition to the 5K run/walk, spin cast fishing was put into the curriculum the first year I started teaching at CAL. There was a pond on our campus, so I found the urge to use it as part of an outdoor activity strategy. Students thought it was a little crazy, mostly because of the earth worms we used as bait. But they were “hooked” after they caught their first fish. I was able to get students and parents to donate old rods, fish line, tackle boxes, and other items to the program. And the high school boys would bring the fish they caught at their homes or their weekend trips and put them in our pond so we could have a better likelihood for success.
Fly-fishing was added a couple years later, after winning a grant for fly-fishing, fly-tying, and boating equipment. Since the risk and liability was too high to add boating, we were able to use the funds for a dock and a shed to be added around the pond for student and storage use. Parent volunteers gave their time to teach how to fly-fish and tie flies.
I was able to add on a field trip to apply all of what they learned at the Salato Wildlife Education Center, a preserve just north of Frankfort. The center has an underground wildlife aquarium, museum, and a very large well-stocked lake all big enough for 100 freshmen girls to fly-fish and spin-cast with their dads, moms, grandparents, and whoever else wanted to join in on the fun. This was a great opportunity for them to understand that there are other activities than just team sports. And that they can do these things alone, or with friends and family members. But most importantly, that all of these things can be done at anytime throughout their lifetime – no matter their age or ability!
Teaching is a great opportunity to share your experiences with students and to get them involved. But parents can do the same at home. It just takes a little interest to show you care and the motivation to get active with them. It is the experience of the activity that students find most attracting. With the world being so “entertain–oriented,” as I call it, we have to dig deep and pour our time and creative thoughts to change the lives of our youth for a more “fit-minded” generation. But when and where does it start? It will have to start now ... at home, at school, where ever. It just takes 30 minutes to an hour each day to engage our youth.
