New PE electives open up

Next semester, the P.E. department will offer several electives for juniors and seniors, instead of the traditional Lifetime Wellness.

Physical education will still be required for graduation, but there will now be more options to choose from. P.E. teacher Paul Elser has been leading this development in the absence of department head Jamie Smith. Students will now be able to choose among Strength and Conditioning, Crossfit Training, Individual Sports, Team Sports and Fitness Class. Lifetime Wellness will no longer be offered.

As of right now, Elser said, only juniors and seniors can enroll in these classes, while sophomores will still take Sophomore Wellness. Sophomores may be able to in the second semester, but that is still under discussion.

The P.E. staff has discussed moving towards electives for upper class students for a while. “When we applied for the PEP grant, one of our goals was to head in the direction of electives,” Elser said.  The reason for the new P.E. classes, Elser said, was to give students an opportunity to focus on an area of fitness or sport that interests them and motivates them in hopes that they will enjoy it more.

“We also feel that this elective program will better prepare students for making choices about what activities they will want to do to stay physically active and fit for right now and the future,” Elser said.