By Alison Kuznitz ’15
EE Senior Opinions Editor
Trumbull High School is enhancing and diversifying the physical education curriculum. Next year, a new gym elective known as Personal Fitness will be available to all students. It will be an alternative to the regular PE class currently offered. This class can be beneficial to students who do not consider themselves athletic, yet enjoy activities such as yoga, Pilates, and utilizing the weight room. Additionally, Personal Fitness can be geared towards students with medical conditions that prevent them from participating in the normal physical education class.
Gym is a mandatory graduation requirement for all students at Trumbull High School and students must earn 1.75 PE and health credits. In the past, Personal Fitness had been a part of the gym curriculum. However, due to construction and lack of space and supervision, this class was not recently possible. Fortunately, this is no longer the case as long as enough students express interest in the class.
“We are going to try to see how we can implement this into our new regime… It was not something that was feasible, actually, because of the fact of construction,” said Mr. Zinser, Physical Education Department Chair.
This class will be effective since students receive constant supervision and instruction from a teacher. Under the current system, small groups of students are sometimes allowed to do aerobic activities in the hallway directly outside of the gymnasium instead of playing the planned sport with the rest of the class, but students do not obtain the maximum experience since their gym teacher must walk back and forth between the gym and the hallway for the duration of class.
Dr. Tremaglio stated the purpose of gym class is, “To do skill enhancement, introduce different activities, and increase awareness.”
Some students, particularly those who are not athletic and who do not find sports enjoyable, may dread attending gym class in order to earn their necessary credits. Consequently, Personal Fitness would act as a great alternative for these students looking to improve their ultimate gym experience.
“I would love to take this class because yoga is a great way to relieve stress from the day, all the while toning your body. In the future, I feel it would be beneficial if kick-boxing were added to the gym curriculum as an option for us to take,” said sophomore Paulina Howard who is excited about this elective.
Moreover, some students, depending on their medical conditions, cannot be placed into situations like gym class where there is the possibility of re-injury. With Personal Fitness, though, this concern is significantly reduced. Therefore, injured students can most certainly take advantage of this new elective due to its aerobic exercises and less physically demanding curriculum.
Currently, students make up physical education if they are excused for an extended period of time by doubling up on gym classes and/or taking gym in their senior year. The new Personal Fitness class provides an opportunity for students to earn their credits without worrying about re-injury and having to make up credits in the future. Additionally, injured students can view Personal Fitness as a temporary option to physically prepare them for reentry into the regular gym class.
Katie Dunn, a junior, could have used this elective as a valuable tool in transitioning into PE after tearing her right and left ACL and meniscus. “I do wish there was a class I could have taken that would help strengthen my knees during my recoveries. Now I take gym everyday throughout my senior year while all of my friends can take other classes. If there were specialized trainers that could help get injured students back in gym or sports it would be helpful because going to physical therapy twice a week is not enough.”
“I can honestly say most of the injuries aren’t from physical education…I don’t look at physical education as being an unsafe place,” Mr. Zinser said.
Both he and Dr. Tremaglio would like to emphasize that gym class is a very safe environment with minimal risks involved. They also wished to point out that PE is essentially non-contact, whereas sports such as football and lacrosse would be considered contact. All-in-all, Personal Fitness is an excellent new option that accommodates students with different interests, medical conditions, and injuries.