Today in class, Professor Yang started to tell us a little but about Naperville High School. This high school is among the top in the nation for physical education. I found a video on YouTube that was actually a short excerpt that was broadcasted on PBS. The physical education program at Naperville is quite different than any other physical education program I have seen. Naperville High School focuses almost completely on fitness in its physical education classes. Rather than playing the usual team sports that every other school does, the students at this school get their physical activity from working out in a facility very similar to any gym or fitness club one would be a member of. In my opinion, this is a great way for kids to get their physical activity. They do not even have to pay the gym membership fees! The students seem really motivated and enthusiastic about this program and it even shows in their increased academic performance.
The video of the physical education curriculum at Naperville showed some other lifetime fitness components that were part of its program. For example, students could take kick boxing, dance, and yoga as some alternative options to working out in the gym. I personally never really had any of these opportunities in my physical education class. I would have loved all those different options!
While I do think that it is great that the physical education coordinator and other physical education teachers really stress lifetime fitness, I do also think that it is important to incorporate some types of sports in physical education programs. The short 8 minute video did not clearly state if sports were also incorporated. I think that variety is key in physical education and thus some students may become bored with simply working out in the gym for each physical education class. It is important to find the right balance. I am interested to see if lifetime fitness accounts for the entire physical education curriculum at Naperville High School.
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