CrossFit PE Classes Underway in Huntington
Jamie Fishlow is a fitness fanatic. The Huntington High School physical education teacher and tennis coach loves to share his devotion to exercise and good clean living with his classes.
He discovered CrossFit training and thought it might be a good fit for the high school physical education program. However, to get the initiative off the ground required a lot of money for equipment and with the school budget being so tight, Mr. Fishlow turned to the Huntington Booster Club and the organization's grant program.
Mr. Fishlow is no stranger to training and hard work. He has completed several Ironman triathlons, which include a 26.2 mile marathon, 112-mile bike race and a 2.6 mile open water swim. He's open to new training ideas and likes to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in exercise and fitness.
"I starting doing CrossFit in July 2011," Mr. Fishlow said. "I love the diversity of the training and I believe it has been an asset to my triathlon training. I thought it would be exciting for the kids to be involved in such a program so I got the idea for the grant. This is not just for the super-athlete, it's for all the students in the school. Every movement we teach can be scaled to an individual's level without sacrificing the intensity of their workout."
Booster Club Grant
The Huntington Booster Club evaluated Mr. Fishlow's application and awarded a grant in the amount of $5,450, which went toward the purchase of equipment needed to bring the CrossFit program into the lives of physical education students.
"I was able to order weight racks, bumper plates (they are solid rubber plates) and pull bars for the program," Mr. Fishlow said. "We also have a decent amount of equipment that we use for the other aspects of the curriculum."
Georgia D. McCarthy, Huntington's district director of physical education, quickly lined up behind Mr. Fishlow's efforts to add CrossFit to the high school physical education program.
"Georgia was fully supportive and she came up with the idea that we would teach CrossFit on the weeks students have Monday, Wednesday, Friday PE classes and teach traditional sports on Tuesday and Thursdays," Mr. Fishlow said. "So this is what we have been doing. It is not just a unit; it is an ongoing, continuous program that focuses on getting our students to work hard to train their bodies for everyday life."
The new program continues to gain traction with students. "CrossFit runs on the concepts of being constantly varied, highly intensive and functional each and every workout," Mr. Fishlow said. "It is perfect for a PE class because it doesn't take much time to get a great workout in. The intensity level that is expected is very high for workouts that can last from 10-20 minutes. Classes include a warm-up, lessons on new skills or concepts and the workout. Responsibility is placed on the students to follow the WOD (workout of the day) and record their results in a required notebook so they can track all of their workouts."
Not Traditional PE
Naturally, there have been a few bumps in the transition to CrossFit. "It is obviously not your traditional PE program, but Georgia and I saw the need for something radical to change what we were doing in school," Mr. Fishlow said. "As always, change is difficult, but I believe our students are adapting well to the program. We are in this for the long haul and we've made a commitment to see this through. I am completely confident that it will be a success."
Mr. Fishlow recently contacted the CrossFit organization and spoke with someone in the CrossFit Kids division. "I talked about what we are doing in Huntington and he thought it was a great thing," the teacher said. "He offered to help me in many ways. They are sponsoring me by sending me to a CrossFit Level 1 coaching certification workshop. I will be attending at a CrossFit gym in Brooklyn on March 2-3. This will provide me with more knowledge to train the staff. In addition, there are other workshops that they will sponsor as well as providing us with educational materials."
Mr. Fishlow has written a curriculum for his colleagues and has been providing them with lesson plans on a continuing basis. "The staff has been receptive to the program," he said.
The veteran Huntington physical education teacher will never stop trying to ignite a love for fitness and healthy living in his students. "It comes down to the fact that we have a serious problem with childhood obesity, heart risk factors and diabetes," Mr. Fishlow said. "It is our obligation as physical educators to change the way people think about PE and to provide our students with the opportunity to improve their health, physically and emotionally."
For more information about CrossFit training, log onto www.crossfit.com.