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Writer's pictureJulia McKinney

Why Isn't Gym Flex an Option?

Updated: Dec 7, 2023




Some students would like the opportunity to utilize the gym for games or exercise during the FLEX period.


Students at Watauga experience difficulty attaining physical activity during the school day. Even those in the gym for their FLEX session are not permitted to use the space for exercise. Watauga leaders offered insight into the reasoning behind this decision and the potential for change.


Students rarely get exercise during the school day outside of class changes. However, according to PE Coach Rob Sanders, students should “be getting 30-60 minutes of physical activity during the day. This is the time when students will develop these habits; it's important to their future lives.”


PLT (Professional Learning Team) Leadership, a group of teacher leaders guiding our FLEX process at Watauga, shared the history of gym FLEX at Watauga. Keana Triplett, an Academic Instructional Coach at Watauga and a member of PLT Leadership, shared information on the subject.


“When FLEX first began, students were assigned to the gym and Commons as ‘open sessions,’” Triplett said. “These sessions were full with over 100 students, so students were required to sit on the bleachers in the gym.”


At that time, playing games or doing physical activities would have caused chaos and disorder among students. Due to the sheer amount of people, physical activity was not possible. Additionally, the gym FLEX system wasn’t allowing for academic productivity.


“Upon evaluation, these open sessions were recognized as non-productive areas that did not allow for the academic focus and growth that is the central pillar of our FLEX block,” said Triplett. “This led to the iteration of FLEX with independent study sessions in the library, auditorium, and gym. While the numbers were smaller, there were still at least 50 students in each session.”


Even now, the number of students in the gym for FLEX could cause difficulty. Additionally, academics are the main focus of the FLEX design, according to PLT Leadership, which makes many of the decisions regarding academic engagements and often hears from student panels and surveys regarding their opinions on FLEX.


“We have often discussed the gym being used for physical activity,” said Triplett. “However, the majority of students are not requesting it in their feedback. We would not have appropriate space for PE teachers to provide their class FLEX sessions, and our team of teachers believes utilizing the gym for this physical activity would deter from the academic focus of this time.”


Since students have not requested it and it may deter academics, PLT Leadership decided that gym FLEX wouldn't be a good idea. However, some students have recently inquired about the availability of gym FLEX. This caused the idea to be looked at in a new light.


“One of the ideas I had was to be able to sign up for gym FLEX, and students would have to be on teams and let people play based on season,” said PE Coach Rob Sanders. “This was frowned upon because the administration was thinking, ‘well, we don't want students to go and play.’ They wanted to give every student the opportunity to get caught up on work. The idea was that we would have a flock of kids that would want to do that every FLEX day, so it remained a learning lab.”


It can be hard to find a healthy work and exercise balance, particularly during the school year. Some students may feel that they need more physical activity, whereas others may find that they want to catch up on schoolwork in the gym.


“We could look to incorporate some physical activity,” said Sanders. “It would be a very positive thing for students who aren't involved in extracurricular activities or don't have a PE class or a strength training class. The only movement they're getting is during class change walking from class to class.”


The lifestyles students establish now will have a huge impact on their future. How they treat their body and how they treat their mind can shape where they are in later years.


“The human body is extremely resilient and you can make changes and your body will respond,” said Sanders. “Your body will fix things that you have done that maybe you shouldn't have been doing. If you have been eating a lot of fast food and not living very healthy, your body can fix it, but the older you get, the longer it takes for your body to fix it. If you fix it now and into your early adult years and create those healthy habits, your body will respond and it will be healthier for much longer in life.”


FLEX is a dedicated time for students to hone in on their academics and have the opportunity to gain support from teachers. Wherever students decide to request, it's important to take advantage of the available resources, with or without a physical exercise option.



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