Should Placer High School athletes be given top priority for online PE classes which tend to fill up quickly?
Some Students who don’t play sports have online PE. Many student-athletes argue against this saying that their schedules make balancing sports and academics more challenging.
Placer High School has an online PE option that offers an off-campus 5th period. This class is helpful for student-athletes who have other priorities such as practicing or doing work for their classes.
One issue students have with asynchronous PE is that it is also an option for non-athletes. This can become an issue because spots in the class get taken away from student athletics and given to students who take advantage of the course and do not play a sport or have any other activities.
Many student-athletes who don’t have online PE agree. Often, student-athletes have to leave class early for games which means missing time in class. This could impact their grade if an assignment is missed. Students think it would be easier to maintain good grades if they had this class.
Maci Schmidt, a freshman at Placer High School and a student-athlete without online PE, explains how she feels it is unfair she was not given online PE. Schmidt shares she would benefit from this class, unlike some people who have it.
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Placer High School freshman student-athlete Katie Rector shared that she does not think it’s fair for non-athletes to do this class because of the sports, practices, and games that athletes have to get to.
“Whatever sport you do if you can prove it to the school you should be able to have the option to be in the class,” says Rector
On the other hand, Nicol Lampert a Placer High School freshman has online PE but does not play a sport says that instead of a sport for PE, she does workouts from home and practices for future tryouts. She believes the class is fair as long as you are doing the exercise.
Marica Mckenzie is one of the online PE teachers at Placer High School. Mckenzie explains that the class has a completely random enrollment and must be open for all students, athletes or not.
Mckenzie is also strict about the weekly PE logs, which students must submit to get class credit this ensures students are participating in daily physical activity. Students must record what activity they did, and how long they did it and add pictures, if students do not meet all the requirements they do not get points for the assignment. Students must also submit more than just activity logs, they also must meet state standards.
Mckenzie believes it is fair for online PE to be an option for all students. “Some gain confidence from doing online PE as a freshman and end up taking normal PE the next year.”