Putting the fun back in the physical

Christine Carrillo

Get the baseball mitts ready and the yoga tapes queued up, because

Back Bay High School in Costa Mesa plans to take on the challenge of

teaching physical education to students who have proven to be quite

indifferent to the concept as a whole.

While many students attending Back Bay High, a continuation school

in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, have had bad experiences

with physical education, Principal Debbie Davis hopes this new

program will assuage their fears.

The program will include lesson plans on everything from diet and

nutrition to rules and regulations in professional sports. It will

focus on providing each student with a more well-rounded physical

education.

“We’re looking at it to be real motivational ... and real

high-interest,” Davis said. “Their experience with [physical

education] has been so negative. ... Sometimes you need to approach

it in a different way.”

That’s precisely what George Greenwalt, the instructor of the

course, wants to do.

“These kids are not always going to participate, so we’re trying

to find ways to get them the credits they need and get them

interested,” said Greenwalt, who has been teaching for about four

years. “It’s kind of a challenge, and an interesting one, but there

are a lot of things they can learn.”

Before this program, students would have to fulfill the state’s

physical education requirement by taking an aerobics class or some

sort of physical training or activity outside the school, which would

require students to find transportation off-campus.

While this program will give students a more convenient way to

fulfill that requirement, it will also try to teach students

everything they’ll ever need to know in the world of sports,

nutrition and exercise.

“It’s good to have an understanding of sports, because it has

become a huge part of our culture,” Greenwalt said. “You want to try

and find a way to reach these kids a little bit and motivate them.”

By teaching the students about health and fitness, Greenwalt and

Davis hope that their students will benefit in the long run.

“The move should be more toward ‘fitness for life’ education ...

so that when they become adults, they’ll know how to stay healthy,”

said Jaime Castellanos, the assistant superintendent of secondary

education for the district, adding that he supports their ideas for

the new program.

Although the school does not yet have any sporting equipment for

the program, which will start Feb. 24, Davis and the district will

work together to make sure the school gets everything they’ll ever

need.

“If it was an English class, we’d buy the books for them,”

Castellanos said. “If it’s a [physical education] class, we should be

buying the equipment for them.”

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at christine.carrillo@latimes.com.