chapter 13 Planning the Secondary Physical Activity Program

The Purpose of the Program The goal of the program should be to connect each student in the school with physical activity that he or she finds meaningful, to meet the immediate needs for daily physical activity, and to do so in a way that develops a long-term physically active lifestyle.

Student Participation Participation in physical activity programs is usually voluntary, and therefore the program must be conducted in a way that will attract students. Offer a wide range of options. Encourage a physically active lifestyle. Provide fun, enjoyable, and meaningful experiences for students.

Different Intents of Physical Education and Physical Activity Programs Physical education programs are conducted as an instructional program and evaluated in terms of what students learn. Physical activity programs have as their goal making physical activity fun and building student leadership and character to develop a physically active lifestyle. –They should be evaluated in terms of the extent to which they promote the physical activity of the entire student body. –They should meet the needs of those left out of athletic programs.

Inclusive Programs Meet Needs of All Students who want to focus on fitness activities Students with some skill who have been left out of the athletic programs and want to participate in competitive activities Students who are less skilled or less competitive and want to participate in nontraditional activities that don’t require a lot of skill (continued)

Inclusive Programs Meet Needs of All (continued) Students who may want to develop skills in new activities not traditionally offered by physical education programs Female students who want to participate in sport within programs that have few opportunities for girls Students who have been unsuccessful in physical activities and largely have chosen not to be participants Students who want to be involved for social reasons Special needs students for whom activities must be modified

Determining Student Needs and Interests: Focus Groups Using student focus groups –Have 10 to 15 students per group; several focus groups for large schools. –Get the student perspective to put together a survey. Surveying the entire student population –Determine present involvement. –Obtain ideas for activities. –Determine preferred times for offerings. –Determine if students want mixed genders or not.

Setting Priorities to Begin a Program Set priorities based upon gaining maximum participation. Attach names to the survey to target particular groups not presently being served by school or community programs. Juggle student interest with resources available.

Facilities What facilities do we have and need? Think in terms of working with the facilities that are available, when they are available, and using alternative spaces and community resources. Walk around the school and make a list of what potential activities can be offered in what location. Coordinate with the schedules of the physical education program and the athletic programs. What programs can be run using community facilities?

Community Collaboration Meet with community leaders and providers as part of the process of setting up a program. Share the objectives of the program. Solicit input into the program. Investigate the possibilities for cooperative arrangements that might involve community collaboration. (continued)

Community Collaboration (continued) Potential community collaboration Program leaders providing students with material on community participation possibilities (where, what, how much?) Community providers sponsoring students for a period of time (e.g., free membership for a semester) Community providers agreeing to conduct a club in the activity either at the school or at the community facility Community leaders coming into the school and talking to student groups about participation

Equipment Programs need to be planned in terms of equipment available and possible to attain. Regulation equipment for many activities is not necessary. Many community organizations are willing to donate older equipment, let you borrow theirs for short periods of time, or lease it at reduced rates. Schools within districts and between districts can also share equipment. There is no need to run the same activity at the same time.

Structuring the Program Open facilities Tournaments Leagues Contests Clubs Special events Community opportunities

Middle School Programming Middle school students need more opportunities to explore activities they have not done before. Most will not have the skills to play regulation sports and may need some initial instruction and more supervision. Leagues involve sport activities that are small sided and modified. Most middle school students find participation in contests that require low skill and low organization more enjoyable. Planning a middle school program involves a large variety of activities and interest groups of shorter duration.

High School Programming High school students will be able to participate more independently in activities that they have been introduced to in physical education or outside of physical education. They should be able to play regulation forms of most sport activities but still enjoy more small- sided contests that give them greater opportunity to “touch the ball.” They will want to develop skill in club activities and participate for longer periods of time to work toward a culminating event in an activity. (continued)

High School Programming (continued) High school students will tolerate instruction and coaching in activities for which they have no experience. They are likely to be more attracted to all- school events like “dance-a-thons” or those more related to their adolescent culture than the typical field days or events that may capture the interest of middle school– aged students.

How Do Students Sign Up? If the physical activity program is going to be a required program, students will need to choose ahead of time what they want to participate in and must contract to participate in particular activities. An “open facility” that is available on a first come, first served basis requires no sign-up procedures. For a strictly voluntary program, you will have to make a decision about how to sign students up for participation.

Open Participation Designate and schedule particular groups for open participation at different times. Examples: –Girls on some days and boys on others –Lunch intramurals for sixth grade on Monday and Wednesday and seventh and eighth grades on Tuesday and Thursday –Open gym for particular groups Not knowing how many students will show up at any one time may require you to make some quick activity adjustments. (continued)

Open Participation (continued) Open participation has the advantage of giving students the option of showing up or not showing up. The decision is theirs. Required programs and more structured activities create more responsibility for student attendance, particularly in team activities.

Team Activities Guiding principle should be an equal distribution of skill and ability. The value of competition, as well as the fun for most people in competitive events, rests with the idea that each person or team has an equal chance of winning and losing and the outcome is unknown. In open participation, students usually can organize themselves into “pickup teams.” (continued)

Team Activities (continued) Students can be responsible for organizing and signing up as a team for team activities. If individuals sign up to participate, the administrator has more control over balancing the skill levels of the teams. The group selects captains, and the captains meet with the administrator to select balanced teams.

Clubs Students should sign up in advance to join a club. It should be clear when the club meets, how long the club will meet, and what the requirements for being a member are. Club activities are based on the idea of sustained participation over a period of time. Many club activities include not only participation but also instruction in the activity. (continued)

Clubs (continued) Some members may find that they do not enjoy the activity and should be permitted to drop their membership. Clubs can meet at the school or use community facilities and equipment. Good programs give students the opportunity to recommend adding a club if enough students demonstrate an interest in that club.

Special Events Some will require students to sign up ahead of time and some will not. If the event entails registration, preparation of facilities or equipment, or limited enrollment (e.g., field trips such as kayaking; bicycle touring; marathons), then students will need to sign up ahead of time. Most special events held at the school (e.g., dance-a-thons, Circus Night) will not require prior sign-up.

Staffing the Physical Activity Program Two kinds of skilled groups that you will need to staff your program: Those with highly specialized skills in an activity People you can train to organize and run an activity

Sources of Staff Physical education teachers Other teachers and staff within the school Community volunteers with specialized skills Community volunteers with interest in and support for the program who can be trained to help Community paid instructors Students

Know Why People Volunteer To help others and contribute to the community To use skills in a new setting To gain work experience To find new friends and form new relationships To develop a sense of accomplishment and self- worth To learn new skills To challenge themselves To contribute to a cause they hold dear To gain recognition for their abilities To help improve the quality of their community

Working With Volunteers You not only have to recruit volunteers, you have to keep them involved. People with experience in volunteer efforts suggest the following: Do not try to convince volunteers that they should give more time than they agree to. Make sure that if they say they will put in 2 hours a week, you do not give them a job that takes 4 or more hours a week. Use the talents that people have. Don’t put an instructor in a record-keeping job. Find someone else to do the record keeping.

Promoting the Program Students need to know when, where, and how to participate; and the information you give them has to motivate them to want to participate. Promotional materials should make students aware that an opportunity exists, give students the information they need in order to participate, and create a sense of “I want to do this!”

Methods of Promotion Live presentations Public address announcements and video presentations Handouts, newsletters, flyers The school newspaper Web sites Bulletin boards and posters T-shirts and other prizes

Making Your Promotional Work Effective Communicate the benefits of the program to students using the language of the age group. Communicate the inclusiveness of your program. Let students know they don’t have to be skilled or even know anything about the activity to participate. Encourage students who are participants to seek out those who are not. (continued)

Making Your Promotional Work Effective (continued) For high school students, appeal to their sense of enjoyment in trying new things and challenging themselves. Middle school students will be more motivated by social interaction and “fun.” Keep your materials up to date. –Take down posters and other materials for events that have already taken place. –Keep the Web site current. –Give students plenty of time to make plans to be involved in upcoming events. (continued)

Making Your Promotional Work Effective (continued) Get help to make your materials look “professional.” –Everything you send out should be visually appealing. –Color and photographs are obvious pluses. –If your budget is limited, look to volunteers or staff and faculty in the school for help. Design and use a consistent logo.