Phys ed teachers try to snazz up gym class

Sandy Bressner – sbressner@nwherald.com Huntley High School senior Deana DeBosschere watches as freshman Kevin Melaniphy does sit-ups during his physical education class at the school. DeBosschere is part of the school's physical education leader program and helps out with two physical education classes each day. (Sandy Bressner – sbressner@nwherald.com)

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Kelsey Vazquez used to dread gym class. It wasn’t the uniforms that bothered her, or sweating after contact sports. The Huntley High School junior said her peers just didn’t have the right attitude.

“No one would participate,” said Vazquez, 16.

For Vazquez, her peers’ apathy meant a less exciting class. But experts said it was more serious than that; her peers’ attitudes are what could be driving the rising childhood obesity rate.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the percentage of children between ages 12 and 19 who are considered to be overweight increased from 4.6 between 1963-65 to 17.4 between 2003-04. The percentage of children between ages 6 and 11 who are considered to be overweight increased from 4.2 to 18.8 during that same time period.

“This is what I would refer to as a physical activity epidemic,” said Kim Graber, a professor in the University of Illinois Department of Kinesiology and Community Health. “Lacking physical activity and [obesity] are linked.”

In efforts to counter these statistics, physical education teachers in McHenry County schools are devising creative ways to spark their students’ interest in staying healthy and the lessons taught in P.E. classes.

At the end of students’ sophomore years at Huntley High School, they’re invited to apply for Leader’s Gym.

It’s a two-year program that teaches juniors how to lead stretches and warm-ups, set up and take down equipment and officiate sports. During their senior year, students put these lessons to practice and help oversee underclassmen classes.

“Basically they’re learning many different behavior objectives, how to explain and demonstrate all the things we as teachers do,” said Jennifer Heuck, P.E. department chair at Huntley High School.

Vazquez participates in Leader’s Gym. She said there was a distinct difference between the attitude of Leader’s Gym students and those in other classes.

“It’s a lot more athletic,” she said. “Everybody’s really competitive.”

Heuck said those were the types of students she was looking for when reviewing applications for the program – which consist of an essay, teacher recommendations and past gym class performance.

“I’m looking for promptness. Are they responsible? Enthusiastic? Are they motivated? And obviously safety awareness,” she said.

Safety is paramount in physical education classes, which is why Marian Central Catholic High School in Woodstock requires all students to complete a First Aid course sophomore year.

When students complete the course, they’re certified by the American Red Cross for adult, child and infant CPR, as well as first aid. But the class isn’t based on step-by-step instructions or worksheets, P.E. department chairwoman Erin Carver said.

Students must form groups and film a short video that demonstrates their knowledge of the first aid skills taught in class. They act out scenes in which a peer is unconscious, suffering from a wound or injured, she said, and students enjoy the role playing.

“They prefer the wounds because they’re more bloody and gory,” she said. “But I know it works. Anytime you can get kids to like what they have for an assignment, that’s half the battle.”

At Ringwood Primary Center in Ringwood, elementary-aged students spend about a week every school year stacking brightly colored cups into formations, racing each other as they stack and playing games with cups.

Stacking doesn’t always come to mind when naming activities that usually are included in gym classes, but the skills students practice build both physical and mental skills, said Laurie Dohrn, first- and second-grade P.E. teacher.

It’s very useful and beneficial to hand-eye coordination,” Dohrn said. “It’s a very brain-friendly activity, it works both sides of the brain. It emphasizes ambidexterity.”

Young students who don’t engage in enough activities that require use of both sides of their body could struggle with reading and math, Dohrn said.

“If you can build connections between the right and left side of the brain by crossing over that midline, it makes all academics easier,” she said.

It also helps them distinguish between near and far, she said. Graber said activities such as stacking or Leader’s Gym wouldn’t eliminate child obesity, but inroads could be made.

“I don’t think physical education can solve the obesity epidemic but it’s a subject matter that can contribute to its overall reduction,” she said. “Anything that we can do to increase children’s physical activity is great.”