At Bethel Park High School, the Physical Education curriculum has always been centered on arduous fitness courses that aim to chisel students into fit, confident young adults.  The Physical Education teachers are the cornerstones of the athletic wing, as they implement unique and fresh fitness components for students to lead a healthy life.  In addition, the Phys. Ed. department accommodates students and lends students a helping hand when they are in a time of need.

Phys. Ed. teachers Mrs. Thomas, Ms. Serafin, and Mrs. Malley say, “Our focus has always been in providing students with the tools and knowledge that they will need in order to live a long and healthy life.”

Nonetheless, students have always had to enroll in P.E. for four years, at .25 of a credit each year to meet the state minimum of 1 credit; however, the School Board has recently modified this. Next year, the incoming freshman are only required to take gym their freshman and sophomore year, which means the credit has now been boosted up to .5 of a credit instead of .25.

There is a clear division between the Physical Education Department and the School Board on this decision.

Obesity is one cause for the divide as it is prevalent and widespread throughout the United States in this day and age.  In fact, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website states that 28.6% of Americans are obese in the state of Pennsylvania.

At Bethel Park High School, over 25% of the students are obese.

Football coach, Mr. Metheny points out, “I have the percentages for Body Max Index from 2005 all the way through now.  Basically, we [students of BPHS] are anywhere between 27 and 30%, which is just shy of the national norm.  This is morbidly obese.  This is ridiculous in today’s society with how intelligent kids are that we would let our youth be this morbidly obese when we know it’s bad for them; these students will develop self-esteem issues, interacting with other people issues, and health issues.  Right now, statistics say that the children growing up today are going to be the first generation in a long long time that are going to live fewer years than their parents.”

What will these numbers looks like in a few years after only two years of Physical Education?

Especially in a society that now pushes for health and wellness, a decision to cut back on Physical Education seems counter-cultural.

According to the School Board’s decision, students will have the opportunity to take gym as an elective their junior or senior year if they wish.  For some students P.E. is the only physical activity that students get.  Students that are in athletics may take gym as an elective, but what is the probability that the students that are inactive will take gym as an elective?   This pins the physical education department in a perplexing situation.

Currently, the Physical Education department is establishing a concrete plan and curriculum that will save jobs and Physical Education for students across the District.

The modification of the Phys. Ed. curriculum could be changed by as early as next year. Since the Board is already valuing the credit of gym as .5, the department is forced to scheme and brew up a plan to lure and entice students to take gym as an elective their junior and senior year.

Soccer and hockey coach, Mr. Santora states, “[The decision by the Board] is very counterproductive and I don’t think it’s going to have any positive impact on our students. . .”

If the School Board’s plan is upheld, what will the Phys. Ed. department do to ensure that students are benefiting as much as possible from Physical Education?

According to Mr. Santora, “Nothing is official yet.  We still have a lot of work to do as a department and to decide what direction we want to take our program in.  Do we want to have it more activity-based, as in the three day activity and two day fitness, opposite of what we have know.  Or, do we want to take it to five days of activity.  Or, do we want to have completely different classes for juniors and seniors versus freshmen and sophomores (if the Board changes the credit to .5); the problem with that is that it separates everybody, and in ninth and tenth grade you might think that Phys. Ed. is awful and you may only partially enjoy it.  Well, then you might be more reluctant to take it as an upperclassman, because it was more challenging.”

Mr. Santora highlights that if the Phys. Ed. department gears the curriculum towards an activity-based program for the upperclassmen, then maybe that will entice more students to take it as an elective.

However, Mrs. Thomas, Ms. Serafin, and Mrs. Malley all say, “The 9th and 10th grade PE expectation will remain the same.  3 days fitness and 2 days activity.  We are still discussing a different type of program for the 11th and 12th graders.”

The list of benefits of Physical Education goes on and on.  Studies worldwide show that P.E. increases test scores, GPA, and personal achievements.  Even Mr. Metheny notes that standardized test scores will improve if the student is involved in PE.  There is no hiding the fact that exercise gets the blood flowing, which in turn improves concentration.

In today’s culture, school districts around the country are making adjustments, refining, and tweaking the physical education curriculum to better the health and welfare of students.  Most of these adjustments are technological advancements and enhancements that improve the efficiency of athletic equipment.  At one point, Bethel Park was no different from all of these other school districts.

On another note, with the construction of the new high school, Bethel Park has provided students and teachers with ultramodern athletic equipment, devices, and facilities.  Fortunately, the District has provided these faculties that are the forefront of the educational system within Pennsylvania and even the United States.

About this, Coach Metheny asks,”If the School District just spent $25 million on athletic facilities, then why would they eliminate, in three years, 800 of the students from participating in gym?”

In regards to the new athletic facility, Coach Metheny adds, “Dana Holgorsen, football coach of West Virginia University, came to Bethel Park High School and said we had better facilities than they do, in terms of outdoor facilities.”

Thus, the Physical Education department wants these state-of-the-art athletic facilities to be used to the utmost and in the way that they were intended. A reduction in Phys. Ed. will evidently yield the opposite effect for there won’t be as many students there to use the facilities and if there are less students, then there will be less options, thus leaving some of these facilities to collect dust.

Clearly, the decision to reduce Physical Education doesn’t sit well with the Physical Education department. Mr. Santora notes that the only thing that can change the School Board and administrations’ minds are the voices of the student body.

Regardless of what becomes of this, the students’ physical, mental, and emotional well-being will be held in the balance.