Spring Contract for Grade (Part 2) Brian Rud In early December I found interest among students to have a directed after school fitness program run for them. Many of these students were those who I currently had in class or had taught in past years. I organized a small group of students to meet two days a week after school to work on various aspects of physical fitness. We had an established after school intramural program set up for those who wanted to work out in the weight room after school four days a week. However, it involved someone opening up the room and sitting there supervising. Many students were looking for an alternative that involved more. For two days out of every week I led small groups of students in various cardiovascular, plyometric, and strength building exercises. I kept the workouts to a half hour to forty-five minutes to avoid student burnout. Many of the students I worked with were involved with athletics. They had an interest in specifying their training to improve performance in those events. This is something that through time will definitely benefit those who took part. This project was kind of a grass roots project. For one, I was doing this to stay physically fit myself. For another, this was not a planned out series of lessons, but emerged as time went on. I am continuing this over the summer for anyone who is interested in participating during open gym. During the summer it is common to have twenty to thirty students working out each morning, some of whom participated with me during the school year. My eventual goal is to develop a fitness club which meets regularly throughout the year. What started as something small may turn into a funded group through intramural money. Part of my battle with developing a fitness club, is maintaining and developing a true fitness center. I have taken steps throughout the year to lobby with as many administrative personnel as I can stating the importance of an upgraded facility. Things are moving slowly but we are now on the right track. As kids see new pieces of equipment come in, they have a new enthusiasm for working out. Eventually, I hope to have enough of a variety to be able to run a fitness club within our school effectively. Beyond the emphasis on the physical conditioning, it is important for young people to understand how their body works and why it does what it does. This is another targeted goal to slowly introduce concepts as they become more accustomed to fitness. The goal is to prepare and educate these young adults to the point where when they leave high school they will have a very good understanding of what is needed to be done to take care of their bodies. Doing so without shoving facts and information down their throat will be the key. It needs to be done so that they enjoy it and want to continue on their own terms. This year was a small start, yet effective one, to beginning to achieve some of these targeted goals. Young people at this age are very impressionable. One of the most important things to them is their appearance to others. It is my hope that I will be able to clear up some misconceptions and lead them to a better understanding as they grow older. Consider this the beginning phase of what will hopefully turn in to a long, long project. I will consider it time well spent.

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999