University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 5, No. 1/1995 Shaping the future of high school gym classes If you were the child who stood with pounding heart and sweating palms, dreading your turn to jump over the sawhorse in gym class, take heart. Thanks to the efforts of two University professors, in cooperation with a progressive school system in Cecil County, Md., gym class is no longer just for athletes. As developed by John J. (Jack) O'Neill, director of recreation and intramural programs, and Avron Abraham, assistant professor of physical education, the new gym program is fitness- based rather than skill-oriented, emphasizing health-related components of fitness and the individuality of each student. The daily physical activity remains, but standard P.E. equipment-volleyball nets, basketballs and other team sport necessities-have been replaced with VCR's and large-screen televisions (for showing aerobic tapes), heart monitors, weights and floor slides (where students can slide in the motion of speed skaters on a film-like floor covering). "Physical education programs of the '70s and '80s were very skill oriented, very sports activity-based," O'Neill says. "Many of us have been preaching change, identifying that fitness is the foundation of what we want to build our systems on. "In the past, it was the talented athletes who dominated physical education classes, and the other kids would back out if they didn't fit in. Physical education was something less than it could be. "This program teaches children to develop a personal fitness program. Hopefully, for some, it will create a lifestyle change. They will see that lifelong activity is good for everyone. "It's been very well established in the fields of medicine and physical education exactly what it takes to develop a personal fitness program. All of those components-warm up, vigorous exercise for 20 minutes and cool down, three times a week-are built into this program," O'Neill says. And, while no official surveys have been taken, informal word-of-mouth feedback from students and parents is extremely positive. The program was implemented last year at the high school level, Abraham says. All of it is geared toward personalized goal setting, where students try to better their own records, not compete against anyone else. The students spend four days working out in the gym and one day in the classroom, where a textbook and videos reinforce the theories they have been putting into action. "The curriculum is knowledge-based," Abraham says. "The students have to know what they're doing and why." The research possibilities connected with the program are numerous, and O'Neill and Abraham hope to study cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength benefits. Other factors, such as the relationships between fitness and academic achievement, fitness and self-esteem, absenteeism and discipline also are possible research topics, O'Neill says. "For students who are non-competitive, the approach is much more easy-going," says Pat Zang, Delaware '74, a physical education teacher at Elkton High School. She has heard very few complaints about the workout portion of the program. The academic side, however, has taken some adjustment. "The kids aren't used to having to keep a notebook for physical education, and they don't like the idea of a written test. But, that will change as the program is implemented in the lower grades and the students get used to this approach," Zang says. Currently, all ninth graders in Cecil County high schools must take an 18-week personal fitness course. They gain a knowledge base of fitness rather than sports, Zang says. "In the past, physical education was about playing games," Zang says. "We still play games, but now we do that as a means of getting fit-not of learning the game. We may, for example, have them play four-on-four soccer. The students will log that in their notebooks and check their heart rates. Students learn how to find their target heart-rate and may wear heart monitors to see progress during exercise." Once finished with the ninth grade cycle, the high school students have a choice of four electives in physical education-aerobics, a strength class, a cross training class and a walk/run/jog class. The hope is that, once the program is offered on all grade levels, students will have such an appreciation for fitness that they will choose the electives. This year, Zang says, both the weight-training and aerobics electives have high enrollments. "The girls in my aerobics class love it," she says, adding that she is right in there with them, exercising to the tape, too. -Beth Thomas