Physical Education classes raise the bar with new block schedule

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Photo Credit: Yeheun Son

Physical Education students do planks for warm-ups.

by Yeheun Son, Advertising Manager

Are you happy with this year’s new block schedule? Glen Rock High School’s P.E. department’s says: “Yes, and we absolutely love it.”

Thanks to the new rotating schedule, each class has more time to spend, allowing students to learn things in depth and without rushing. This also applies in Physical Education.

“The new schedule gave us more time to do everything,” says Sue Sileo, a Physical Education and Health teacher.

Contrary to physical education classes last year, this year’s extended class starts with 15 minutes of thorough warm-ups before students get to activities; Warm-up includes not only sprinting, jogging, lunges, and karaoke, but other fitness exercises as well.

It is exciting to be able to teach students how to warm up in a safe way that they can do other times of their life.

— Bonnie Zimmermann

“Our emphasis is always based on fitness and life-long activities,” Sileo says. “This year, with a longer time frame, we are able to concentrate more of fitness aspect.”

Bonnie Zimmermann, also a Physical Education and Health teacher, agrees.

“It is exciting to be able to teach students how to warm up in a safe way that they can do other times of their life,” she says.

The new schedule also benefits the P.E. department in other ways because the schedule allows it to be more independent. “We are no longer connected to Science [Lab Periods], so we are on our own and that is good,” Sileo adds.

Teachers are not the only ones who take advantage of the new schedule. High school students also do as they have more opportunities to participate in a lot of new activities.

“There seems to be a better mix of students each period because there are fewer students per period than there was before.”