Health and Wellness

Our bodies are marvelously created by God, and He gifts each of His children with different talents. It is our goal to help develop the physical talents He gives to each student so that they may glorify Him through games, sports, and competition. The physical education curriculum challenges students to not only increase their level of fitness and skill, but to also fulfill the natural inclination to compete and expend energy in constructive and acceptable ways.  The long-term desired outcome is lifelong health as well as appreciation for and involvement in sports of their choosing. The physical education curriculum begins with a focus on movement exploration and perceptual motor development.  These concepts and skills are acquired through gross and fine motor challenges through a variety of activities.  Activities are designed to increase body awareness, spatial awareness, and control while furthering coordination.  Foot-eye and hand-eye coordination is developed through the use of many different pieces of equipment and through stations, obstacle courses, relays, fitness activities, games, and sports.  The goal of the program is to make learning fun and to keep students active throughout the class period by working in small groups and by utilizing individual pieces of equipment.

The curriculum for kindergarten through third grade includes excercises to facilitate body awareness, movement exploration, spatial awareness, motor skills, laterality, speeds and body mechanics, foot-eye coordination, and hand-eye coordination.  The students also enjoy competing with one another in games, such as soccer, basketball, and volleyball. In fourth and fifth grades, the students engage in the above activites. In addition, new excercises develop stability, reaction time,  and spatial awareness as applied to sports.  The students also analyze game strategies and the concept of team participation.  Sports introduced include Capture the Flag, volleyball, soccer, hockey, tumbling, basketball, and baseball. In sixth through eighth grades, students engage in the above activities, and further skill development as applied to sports and teams.  Lacrosse is added to the list of sports, and increased time is spent on fitness activities related to life-long fitness. At the High School level, students have the opportunity to participate in a personalized fitness program. Students enjoy a state-of-the-art fitness center that allows them to participate in strength training, plyometrics, and overall conditioning.  An individual program is designed to facilitate the skills and strength needed for specific sports and lifelong health.  While each marking period involves specific units and areas of instruction, students are evaluated for the purpose of defining progress and growth without assigning a numerical grade.  Areas that are considered for reporting purposes are cooperative attitude, sportsmanship, consistent effort, and following directions.