Shore Regional High School changes to physical education

Physical education is a classic part of every high school student’s experience. However, due to restrictions from COVID-19, Shore Regional has mixed up how PE is being taught.

“This year is going to be very different from past years for physical education. There is so much that had to be considered due to the unique circumstances,” said physical education teacher Ashleigh Ghaffari. “The major change to physical education this year is that the locker rooms are off limits, so students are not changing for PE like they normally would. Students are encouraged to come to school with proper footwear and, most importantly, wear clothes that they can be active in.”

Ghaffari added that the curriculum required changes due to social distancing, minimal equipment sharing, wearing masks and limiting indoor activity.

“Minimal equipment sharing was probably the toughest to tackle because a lot of class activities would require students to touch the same piece of equipment,” she explained. “We were able to come up with a list of activities that would either require minimal equipment or no equipment.  Some of the activities discussed were individualized activities such as tennis, badminton, pickleball, fitness stations and walking.”

Don’t forget dessert for the Holidays! Caputo’s Pastry Shoppe

Physical education teacher Dave Porta said classes such as health and driver’s education have not changed, but the “ability to do a lot of hands-on learning, group projects and other activities in class are significantly challenging. In addition, The Driver Ed classes have an additional challenge because in-person instructional time for the marking period is cut. However, the same amount of material still mustbe covered to ensure everyone is prepared for the state driving test at the end of the marking period.”

If you can’t be there for the holidays, send Flowers by Van Brunt

Porta said the entire physical education department has been collaborating to adapt to the hybrid
learning model, and they have all “undergone a 12 hour ‘Mindfulness’ training, which has already been
incorporated into both daily lessons as well as remote instructional lessons at home.”
Ghaffari said one of the largest challenges this year is helping students keep an open mind about
physical education.

“Yes, we as adults can adapt easily to face the challenges that come this year, but for students that may
be a little harder,” she said. “We tell them every day to come to class with a positive attitude and that is
the most important thing that we can ask for. We may not be able to continue with traditional PE activities
that we would have in the past, but we are being as creative as possible to make physical education an
enjoyable experience for all.”

Don’t feel like cooking? Call Snookie at Nunzio’s

She added, “Modifying classes to incorporate more activities that allow students to reflect and improve
upon their mental and emotional health, become more mindful and enhance their social wellbeing, will
benefit the student as a whole. We are hoping that students will feel better about themselves, have more
energy, and be more positive.”

Joe Rankin, a physical education teacher, said, “Change is probably our biggest challenge this school
year. Students are often a bit resistant and apprehensive to change and new class activities, so we have
emphasized having an open-mind each day.

He said the goal of the PE department is to create a positive class environment for the students on a
daily basis. In turn, he gave credit to the students for the way they have handled all of the adjustments in
PE class, and school in general.