It is possible to have a ball in gym class

Sweaty.  Boring.  Annoying.  When you think of gym class, these words fit the stereotype.  If you are athletic, gym seems to be a waste of time because you already participate in exercise after school.  If sports are not your thing, then participating in gym leads to a dreaded embarrassing moment.  No matter what your reasons for protest, gym will always be a mandated class to ensure kids stay healthy. However, gym doesn’t have to be sweaty, boring or annoying.  Or at least not boring or annoying.  The sweaty part, well, that never goes away. 

Gym this year was not what I expected.  Since I participate in sports after school, I always found gym in elementary school and middle school to be a waste of time.  The teachers made it intense, the games weren’t that great, and to get changed for a 45-minute period just didn’t make sense.   However, in high school, my attitude has changed.  Although changing for a 30-minute time frame still feels like a waste of time, the class is fun and actually enjoyable. 

Stereotypical gym class goes like this: The boys take over any game, and the girls get pushed to the side.  The games are dull and not everyone gets to participate much.  Some girls are afraid of the ball; others, like me, wish the ball would get passed to them more.  Arguing occurs, and the teachers make a big scene to resolve it.  Except for a rare occasion, gym is not fun. An occasion where gym was fun was in middle school, when we played “Capture the Flag” as a Learning Community.  There were four teams, and every team wanted to capture the others teams’ flags.  There were not endless rules associated with the game, and each player wanted to help his or her team, so camaraderie drove the game.  Unfortunately, this game was only played a few times a year.

In high school, gym actually becomes fun.  This most likely occurs because the teachers lay off the game, the boys respect the girls, and the games are fun when participating with friends in a game where everyone gets involved, like volleyball.   Now that I think about it, because circumstances such as these occur in high school, they lead to my enjoyment in gym. For example, my class began the semester with a volleyball unit, and our team consisted of two boys and six girls.  The boys obviously still made more of the plays, but the girls got to participate and make a difference in the game, too.  Even though a couple girls weren’t that good, they improved, and whenever they made a nice play, my team cheered and congratulated them. There was camaraderie; everyone wanted to have fun. 

I have heard from many people repeated phrases such as “Wow, gym is actually fun this year.” The teachers don’t constantly criticize each player, and they trust us enough to work out disagreements on our own.  This makes gym fun.  Not only do students stay healthy, but we get to make new friends and new memories with our teammates. 

Although gym has had a bad rap for decades, it doesn’t have to be like that forever.   Once students get to high school, camaraderie grows and there is more freedom to work out disputes, and gym actually becomes fun.   Although in grade school game choice and instruction isn’t up to the student, if one hangs in there long enough and keeps an open mind, one will find gym to  eventually be enjoyable.  Maybe with an open mind, students will stop complaining about homework…

After School Special: Episode 6

Hannah and Sarah go to the weight room and talk to some of East’s daily lifters…

Student takes gym sports seriously

George B. Johnson (’10) is the man with a plan; a game plan that is.
 
Floor hockey, a familiar old gym sport, is now on the rise to becoming as big as college football and basketball all thanks to Johnson.
 
“I’ve always like to explore the unknown, you know?” Said Johnson, “When I stepped onto that gymnasium floor with that hockey stick for the first time, I was like… whoa. I knew this was my destiny.”
 
September twenty-fifth, a day like any other regular Monday at Cherry Hill East, was the day Johnson discovered his love and natural talent for floor hockey, according to Johnson that is.
 
“Man, we were just doin’ our thing on that there court man and he was just ripping up the floor like some crazy dude, man!” said Johnson’s best friend Louie Steward (’10). “Man, the final score was crazy man it was like seventy to two or something!”
 
Not only does everyone now cut their seventh period class to watch Johnson and his team play floor hockey during gym, but Johnson also got the approval of Cherry Hill East principal Ron O’Schmeeza to start his own floor hockey club at East.
 
“I really love watching Johnson play,” said Stephanie Guenn (’13), president of the George B. Johnson fan club. “I’ve already gotten eight white cards from skipping AP calculus because I can not stand to miss one game. I’ll be really upset when floor hockey season is over!”
 
O’Schmeeza, although not approving of the simultaneous class cutting, makes an appearance at every floor hockey match.
 
Colleges from all over the Unites States are now looking at Johnson to recruit. Only very few Division I colleges have floor hockey teams. Now, however, the increased demand for Johnson has paralleled an upward growth of collegiate floor hockey teams.
 
“We’ve always seriously considered starting a Floor Hockey team,” said Minnie King, the Athletics Director at Louisiana State University. “Now if Johnson comes to LSU, we’re definitely doing it. Go Tigers!”
 
“I really want to go to LSU. I think they will really be able to help me with my professional floor hockey career.” Said Johnson, “I was already offered a contract with the Washington Prairie Dogs, my favorite professional floor hockey team, but I told them I want to wait until after college. You know, just in case I get injured or something. I’ve been having this strange ache in my right pinky toe. You can never be too careful.”
 
According to the talk show “Hockey-Watch” on ESPN, the Washington Prairie Dogs are currently the second best team in the NFHL (National Floor Hockey League) next to the Atlanta Lancers and the Pittsburg Manatees who are both tied for first.
 
“Johnson is a really good kid and has exceptional grades,” said Lisa Whinstone, Johnson’s guidance counselor. “Even if something goes wrong with his floor hockey career, not saying it will, he will still have an extremely promising future as maybe a technician or a scientist or something. I have a lot of faith in him.”
 
Because of Johnson’s new found talent he has not only gained immense popularity, but he has also been nominated for the Cherry Hill East Senior Hall of Fame, Mr. East, and the superlative for “Most Likely to Become a Celebrity”.
 
Johnson appears to have his entire life planned out all thanks to gym class.