Middle School
As the calendar has turned to Spring students have completed their third and final Pacer. The goal for students completing the Pacer is to increase their cardiovascular endurance by finishing stronger at the end of the school year. They are striving to meet the Presidential Fitness and National Physical Fitness Benchmarks. These benchmarks include the mile run, sit and reach, sit-ups, shuttle run, push-ups and pull-ups/flexed arm hang. To qualify for The Presidential Fitness Award students must achieve at least the 85th percentile in all five activities. To qualify for the National Physical Fitness Award students, must achieve the 50th percentile in all five activities. Units we have completed include hockey, kickball, soccer, whiffle-ball and capture the flag. These units focus on teaching sportsmanship, building and increasing fitness, and helping students grow in spirit, mind, and body.
Lower School
As Spring has arrived preschoolers, kindergartners, and first grade students continue to work on building manipulative skills. These skills include throwing, kicking, rolling, bouncing, catching and striking. Manipulative skills are any gross motor skills that involve an object. Students were engaged in the following activities: Fitness Dice, Balance Beam, and building Hockey skills. Students were introduced to stations and worked on knocking down pins, shooting at a basketball hoop, striking a ball at a net, throwing a Frisbee, catching a football, manipulating scooters, jumping rope, and throwing a ball in a bucket. Students in grades K-3 were introduced to hockey and soccer. Skills included holding the stick correctly, shooting the puck/ball into the net, goalie preparation, proper safety for game play, and passing to teammates. Students are increasing their developmental skills and interacting positively with respect for others, developing team building skills, and sportsmanship in a physically active setting.
“Fitness is not about being better than someone else…It’s about being better than you used to be.” Brett Hoebel