Seniors at South are always in a rush to get their Physical Education [PE] credits done before graduation. Many students at South play varsity sports and don’t have the time to take PE because they use up their school electives to take band, art, theater, and world language classes that they take during the school year. Many varsity sport players don’t even have the time to take PE with their electives being filled up with these other classes, and since PE is such a large requirement for students, shouldn’t varsity sports count?
According to the Minneapolis Public School Director of physical education, Ben Tressel, “you need to reach all the Minneapolis standards, but there isn’t a current way to assess all the standards in a varsity sport and a licensed PE teacher needs to teach students about PE. Most coaches aren’t licensed PE teachers.”
Many basketball players find that they do more running in their practices than their PE classes. Junior Oscar Campbell, who plays both soccer and basketball at the varsity level, said “it shouldn’t just be varsity [that’s counted for a PE credit]. Freshman and junior varsity players are also very active and healthy. Isn’t that the point of a physical education class?”
The varsity basketball team not only has long and intense practices during their season, but they also prepare for the basketball season during the summer. The basketball team participated in a summer leadership program at South, led by the varsity football and basketball coaches. This program not only taught them leadership skills, but also provided an opportunity for weight training and playing basketball.
“During the summer we did conditioning and skills twice a week and do tournaments in July. As well as practice everyday for a three-week period [during the summer],” said senior captain Alex Richardson.
Richardson thinks that varsity sports should count as a PE credit. “We learn all the same things, such as nutrition, health, how to take care of our bodies, sleep, conditioning, and weight lifting.”
Junior Kenley Farrow said, “we do fundamentals first, then practice plays, then scrimmaging, and lastly conditioning. We usually do killers that are timed for conditioning.” Varsity basketball players find their season has a high intensity and they are well informed about nutrition, health, and sleep, just like in an average PE class.
PE Teacher Carol Allery would disagree. She was once a coach and she feels that there isn’t enough time to teach players about heart rate zone and other standards that need to be taught in a gym class. “I believe that they should have a semester of gym every year. How can you educate a mind if a body can’t perform?” asked Allery.
Brenda Frisvold, another PE teacher at South, has the same idea as her fellow faculty member. Frisvold believes that students should take a semester of PE freshman and sophomore year, and take PE electives their junior and senior year. These electives would be team sports, where students play and learn all about team sports. Options could include basketball, hockey, or weightlifting classes, where students can learn how to and train with more advanced techniques of weight lifting.
“Physical education is meant for the 80% of students who don’t play sports,” said Frisvold. She teaches PE to inform students about their health and well-being, as well as how to be physically fit for their life.
Physical education teaches socialization and a cooperative learning aspect that some students aren’t familiar with. Although the basketball team has a social and cooperative component, practice is never paused to learn about heart rate zones.
Students who take a PE class at South have to meet the standards set by the district. Students need to develop the ability to be socially respectful and cooperative with other students, understanding the relationship of physical activity to fitness and health. The most important standard according to Tressel, Allery and Frisvold is that PE should change how people live.”I want them to enjoy being physically active because if they enjoy being physically active, it will be something they will do after my class,” said Allery.
