The teacher doesn’t remember it. My guess is the student doesn’t either. But a late spring day years ago sticks in my mind as an example of what physical education can mean for every child.
Along with my fellow 7th graders, I was playing an informal game of softball on the last day of school. Most of all, we were exulting in our new status as school kingpins, because the 8th graders would be attending their graduation ceremony within the hour (our public school in Oak Park was kindergarten through 8th grade back then).
In between pitches I spied an 8th grader in his coat and tie walking across the outfield toward our gym coach, Andy Scianna. Tears in his eyes, the student wanted to say goodbye to Mr. Scianna. They talked for a few minutes, shook hands, then I watched the boy walk back toward the school auditorium. He was still crying but with a huge grin on his face.
I’m not sure what Mr. Scianna said that day, but chances are it was funny and encouraging at the same time.
Here’s why I never forgot that goodbye. The 8th grader was not a star athlete, as you might expect. He wasn’t even outgoing. Instead, he was a shy boy, nice kid, smart, who always seemed to be flushed in the face. He was probably a good 10 pounds overweight but far from the heaviest student in his class. There was nothing about him that would make him stand out to a physical education teacher or, frankly, to many of his classmates.
Or so you might think. Andy Scianna saw something in every student, a “spark” he called it on the phone the other day.
“You must get every kid involved,” said Scianna, who has been a history teacher and varsity baseball coach at Oak Forest High School for more than 30 years. “I think just talking to every student makes a difference.”
There is a temptation for some PE teachers, especially those who double as coaches, to focus on the athletes in the class.
Scianna was our boys basketball coach. In fact, he also coached the basketball team at a sister grade school, and both of his teams were 8-0 during my 8th grade year (we could not officially play each other). That didn’t stop him from connecting with a chubby classmate of mine, who couldn’t run any faster than he walked. Yet this boy always seemed to smiling in Mr. Scianna’s class.
Another friend, now a successful ad agency director, didn’t play organized sports. But at a reunion, his first question was about Mr. Scianna. He said he remembered talking to him about practically everything but sports.
In contrast, one suburban mother said her son’s PE teachers employ the more skilled students as demonstrators, a tradition that has been intimidating countless kids for decades. Plus, believe it or not, new PE movement or not, this same mother said her kids come home with fresh anecdotes about the well-worn pox of a game, dodgeball.
What we need are more teachers who act and think like Andy Scianna.
“There is still a sports-page mentality among some PE teachers,” said Don Hellison, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “There are more fitness-oriented teachers these days, but too many educators still equate PE with sports.”
Hellison said newer research might convince teachers and parents alike that PE is better pointed toward personal fitness and away from team sports.
“The evidence shows that physical fitness is a stronger indicator than sports participation for self-esteem and relating to others,” Hellison said. “The kids feel better about themselves. The key concept is physical activity, not your skill level.”
What we need are more students who look forward to class rather than figure out a way to get the family doctor to write a medical excuse. Better yet, how about students who look back at PE as a time to develop fitness habits for life?
“I have to admit, I complained about the running we did in class during 8th grade,” said Jennifer Huwe, 15, a freshman at Naperville North High School who attended Washington Junior High. “But now that I look back at it, I’m glad we did it. I felt good about getting in good shape.”
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The “new PE” movement can help reprioritize what teachers put in and students get out of physical education classes (see the related story on Page 1 of this section). But, most of all, what we need are parents who know what is going on in their child’s PE periods. Most parents don’t know–maybe because they believe good grades and toned muscles are mutually exclusive.
That’s not the case.
“If you want your kids to be physically fit, the parents have to be part of it,” Hellison said. “PE class is just a start.”
Sometimes that start is better than others.