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My jaw drops as I check out this video of La Sierra High School's physical education class in 1962. These general education high schoolers are more fit than a varsity basketball team.
I bet your PE classes growing up looked a lot more similar to mine. The teacher explains a game for 15 minutes, rolls out the ball, and chaos ensues. What lessons can we learn from the La Sierra program and what is the future of physical education in the United States? This is the topic for this Beach Bi-Weekly.
There have been many studies that show physical education helps improve academic performance. This study summarizes that "physically active and aerobically fit children consistently outperform their inactive and unfit peers academically on both a short- and a long-term basis. Time spent engaged in physical activity is related not only to a healthier body but also to enriched cognitive development and lifelong brain health".
Let's take a deeper look at the PE program in the 1960s out of La Sierra High School in California. The program's creator Stan LeProtti was a WWII vet and his inspiration came from the ancient Greeks and 19th-century strongmen. The program ran until 1983 when the school closed down.
People took notice of the incredible results coming out of La Sierra, including President John F. Kennedy. In 1962, Kennedy worked to improve physical education in the United States and La Sierra was his poster child. JFK visited the school and wanted to get over 4,000 other public schools enrolled in a similar physical education program.
Unfortunately, Kennedy was killed a year later and the global push for higher standards in our public schools lost steam.
Students moved through the La Sierra program on a color scale, similar to Karate. White shorts were for rookies, while red, blue, purple and gold shorts were for students who had proven themselves. In order to progress to the next level of shorts, you needed to achieve key milestones. The top-level was navy blue which only 19 people achieved in the programs 20+ years. It included being able to do 34 pull-ups and carry someone on their back for 5 miles 🤯.
Here are the requirements to maintain or achieve the "red team". Out of the 6 levels, the "red team" is only one level up from beginner.
I am not sure how much of La Sierra's program would fly today, because it is extremely tough and has similarities with a military boot camp. However, we can still learn from the program they ran. Here are three keys to the program in my opinion:
Progression of shorts (motivation).
No-frills bodyweight gym equipment (method).
Leadership from the teachers. The high-quality teachers gave tactical feedback on form and inspired students to bring their best (structure).
In the beginning, La Sierra's program did not include women, who typically had their own less rigorous and intense P.E. class. This was common in 1960s public schools.
In the 1970s women were introduced to the La Sierra program. In the 20 plus years, the program ran only 19 students who achieved the highest honor of Navy level. In 1983 on the final day in the school's history before closing permanently, one woman achieved Navy. Making her the first and last woman to achieve Navy at La Sierra.
To learn more about physical education since the 1960s I spoke with one of my family friend's, Rick Spielman, who was a PE teacher for 3 decades. He has a background in seminary and viewed "ministry" in the broadest definition. His ministry was helping kids in physical education.
His philosophy of physical education was to get everyone involved and have the students moving around as soon as possible. He didn't want to spend a third of the class explaining a game.
Reflecting on P.E. across the nation, he believes that physical education should be mandatory for all schools. He mentioned that P.E. never got cut in his district but they did have to keep making the case for P.E. during budget cuts in the school system.
Rick believes P.E. is valuable because it lets kids express themselves and help blow off excess energy. After a good P.E. class, the students are more alert for the rest of the day. They are able to focus better during math and reading. He also stressed that P.E. teaches kids lifetime physical activity skills.
My mother can attest to the value of learning lifelong exercises in physical education. In middle school, her P.E. teacher showed the class a brief morning exercise routine they could do. The students did the exercise at the beginning of class for a few weeks and the teacher encouraged them to keep doing it at home. My Mom has religiously completed that exercise routine with a few variations every single morning since 1962(!!). Here she is doing her famous morning exercise routine.
Humans and particularly kids have not evolved to sit all day. We need to move our bodies. There are countless studies linking physical health to having a positive impact on mental cognition.
In the push to increase test scores, many schools have cut P.E. and recess. However, they are missing the point, rigorous academic work requires breaks and moving around.
In many ways, physical education is a place of meritocracy. It doesn't matter your race, socioeconomic background, or religion, when you are out there on the floor doing pushups or dribbling up the court you are upheld to the same standards. The key for successful physical education will be for school districts to experiment with different physical education programs, learn from past programs, and find new ways to get our kids moving outside of just the P.E. class.
Plant I am enjoying
Rosemary is my favorite herb and its fragrance and appearance are perfect for the holiday. I don't know what they do at grocery stores, but their plants are always thriving. I take one home and they start wilting when in the week. Any herb tips are greatly appreciated!
Why Sperm Counts are Declining
Male sperm counts of men dropped by 59 percent between 1979 and 2011. The quality of that sperm declined too, as the percentage of damaged DNA increased. Maybe that's why the miscarriage rate has risen by 1 percent per year over the past two decades. The interview is thought provoiking and points to the use of plastics and chemicals in our lives as a leading indicator for lower sperm count.
Pic of the Week
I did a Spartan race with a few friends this past week. The 5k race included obstacles like the monkey bars, sandbag carry, and jumping over walls.