By OWEN MIKLOS ‘16
The addition of Freshman-level Biology to the school curriculum in 2013 has led to some unexpected impacts on the Physical Education Department.
Current sophomores and juniors are short on P.E. credits. The State of Ohio requires two semesters of Physical Education. Students in the class of 2017 and 2018 have only take one.
While some students will be able to pick their PE credits during their senior year, many students have full schedules of AP courses and electives as they prepare for college. Not every student is ready to trade in the scales and beakers for deadweights and gym shorts.
Students in the Classes of 2017 and 2018 will be the first to have the opportunity to fulfill their phys ed requirement through the completion of interscholastic athletics, two seasons of which would fully account for the missing link.
Bearing these concerns in mind, the school administration is embracing an alternative way for these students to fulfill their PE requirement: credit for participation in interscholastic athletics or Marching Band, or through increased summer PE offerings. The approach is consistent with Ohio law and several local high schools have implemented similar programs with success.
Students in the Classes of 2017 and 2018 will be the first to have the opportunity to fulfill their phys ed requirement through the completion of interscholastic athletics, two seasons of which would fully account for the missing link.
When asked about the new program, Dean of Teachers Mr. Ptak was emphatic in that this was strictly done for the two classes aforementioned, no others . . . for the time being. “We recognized the dilemma that these students were in, and so we took this existing idea and made it a viable option,” he said.
“Given the uniqueness of the situation, it seemed right to allow for those students who have committed themselves to varsity athletics to not have to shoulder an additional burden during the school week.”
To clear up a misconception that’s sure to arise: Credit is not awarded retroactively.
If you played Freshman Blue basketball but never continued, you won’t be eligible for the course credit; only those current sophomores and juniors who will play or have played in a varsity sport between the Fall 2015 sports season and that of Spring 2018 will cover all of their bases.
“For right now,” Ptak went on to say, “it’s just these two classes. If everything works out, we’ll see what options are available for students in future years.”
