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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Bellview to offer attendance incentive to parents Willow Wind seeks volunteers for 'Hour of Code' event Iconic Lithia Park landmark in need of restoration Suit seeks to overturn GMO ban Standing Stone stands up for Emergency Food Bank Education Bellview to offer attendance incentive to parents Willow Wind seeks volunteers for 'Hour of Code' event Crossing guard clowns, but takes job seriously Ashland's DECA team proves a quick study Helman hosts literacy event Environment Don't like weather where you are? 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Suit seeks to overturn GMO ban ... Standing Stone stands up for Emergency Food Bank ... Ashland Calendar ... Suit seeks to overturn GMO ban ... Standing Stone stands up for Emergency Food Bank ... ASHLAND HIGH SCHOOL Not your father's P.E. class Traditional physical education approach scrapped, school offers yoga, dance, Kung Fu By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Nov. 7, 2014 @ 6:59 pm By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Nov. 7, 2014 @ 6:59 pm » RELATED CONTENT • Acupuncture, yoga among alternative therapies to try duri... • Ashland High School Yoga » Social News The days of teenagers pelting each other with red rubber balls or thwacking shuttles back and forth in pursuit of that elusive badminton championship may not be over. But at least at Ashland High School, those activities no longer represent the only option for students looking to fulfill their physical education requirements. That’s because P.E. teacher Charlie Hall is steering the school’s physical education curriculum away from its traditional roots and toward a more holistic approach that he hopes will equip students with tools they can use for the rest of their lives, not just during third period gym. Pickleball, ultimate Frisbee, flag football and other staples long associated with gym class are still offered as part of Ashland High’s competitive games class, as is an advanced conditioning course designed to help serious athletes stay ahead of the competition. But starting this school year students at AHS were confronted with a third option, one that Hall says has proven to be a huge success: lifetime fitness and wellness. “I had some concerns about the existing P.E. curriculum,” said Hall, who’s also been the AHS head football coach since 2005. “I felt like it wasn’t connecting to enough students. It hadn’t been changed since probably the '80s. Very few kids were participating in both the weight training aspect and the activity aspect. So we started looking at what we could do to give them more options.” Through brainstorming sessions, Hall’s vague ambition started to develop a skeleton. What, he asked himself, should be the goal of a high school physical education course? How can that be accomplished? The answers turned out to be two-fold, and would require some help from the community. The final result, Hall says, has been well worth it. First, he sharpened the focus of its existing P.E. courses — competitive games and advanced conditioning. Students learn the rules, strategies and fundamentals of a few sports and are required to demonstrate their understanding through tests. No more rolling the ball out, blowing a whistle and watching the clock. The advanced conditioning course, already fully developed and a popular choice for AHS athletes, would continue to be offered. Finally, for those students for whom training and/or competing are not priorities, the school would offer the multifaceted lifetime fitness and wellness class. What’s the class about, exactly? Plenty. Hall knew early on that he would incorporate yoga into the new curriculum — a local yoga instructor, Libby Edson, began offering after-school classes free to students during the 2013-14 school year and had received positive feedback. What Hall didn’t know, however, was what other disciplines or activities he could incorporate under a fitness and wellness umbrella. So he researched, he consulted, he asked around. What he ended up with was a class that flips the traditional P.E. model on its head in both its diversity and instruction and which, thanks to tremendous community support and an impassioned letter sent out by Hall, is volunteer driven. The breakdown: Monday: Power walk day. Hall takes the students on a class hike around town, sometimes to a destination that will also double as a classroom for the day. Recently, he took the class to the Ashland Food Co-op, where a representative talked to the students about nutrition. Another walk ended up at a local gym. Tuesday: Dance day. Local dance instructors such as Aisha Wand, Michele Mitzel and Sandra Coster, all from Ashland Danceworks, teach students the basics of various dance styles, each focusing on their unique expertise. Wand has been trained in multiple styles and has performed in MTV and VH1 music videos; Mitzel comes from a ballet, tap, acrobatics and jazz background and was part of the original cast for the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Kent Stowell and Francia Russell's "Nutcracker" ; and Coster has more than 20 years of training in ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop and contemporary styles and has also trained as an elite level gymnast. Wand and Coster teamed up to teach one AHS class a routine based on Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which it performed downtown, flash-mob style, during the Halloween Children's Parade Oct. 31. Wednesday: Yoga day. A local instructor leads the students through an hour-long session in the upper gym on the third floor. The most recent session was led by Laura Roll, who spent the first few minutes of class teaching the students how to breathe properly. “Is anyone getting that feeling of filtering your breath through the back of your throat?” she asked. “See if your partner can hear that ocean sound in the back of your throat.” Later, she goes through the stretches. “It’s all about stress reduction,” she explained before students began showing up. “Giving them some tools to reduce stress in their lives.” Thursday: Kung Fu day. Fan Dong Fang, an instructor — known as a sifu or shifu in Mandarin — from China, teaches the students basic movements and drills. There is a bit of a language barrier, says Hall, but Fang, who's been trained in Xiaolin Kung Fu, has a sense of humor about it and communicates effectively through demonstration. Friday: Fitness day. This is exactly what it sounds like, with Hall leading the way, offering general fitness instruction, including some of what would also be taught in the advance conditioning course. In addition, Hall’s students spend the last few minutes of class journaling about what they learned that day. This, he says, is not a throwaway step. It’s important. “They write a paragraph about how they felt,” he said. “Are they getting the hang of it? Appreciating it? Not liking it? Whatever the case may be, they’re reflecting on their experiences.” So far, Hall says the changes have been a big success. The fitness and wellness classes are about 85 percent female, he estimates, and they’re engaged, they’re learning and in some cases they’re seeking out ways to expand their education. Two students were so inspired by the dance class they’ve since started taking lessons at Danceworks after school. Another girl inspired by the after-school yoga class, senior Kianna Stupakoff, has started Ashland High's first Positive Psychology Club. She got the word out through social media and posters tacked up around campus, and now, barely a month later, it's 35 members strong. They meet every other week. What do they do? “We taught lesson in positive affirmation," Stupakoff said of a recent meeting. "We talked about changing your cognition, the way you think about things. It’s been proven to improve your overall happiness in life." Another student revealed, through a journal entry, how yoga has helped him deal with his own inner demons. He realized that he had been too hard on himself. “Maybe I need to take a step back and be more balanced,” he wrote. Not the kind of self-reflection one encounters during a typical dogeball session. “Charlie (Hall) needs to be given credit for his vision,” Edson said. “He realized the program being taught was basically the same it’s always been and wouldn’t necessarily serve them for the rest of their lives. He got the idea, ‘Let’s change this and give them some life skill.’” And for Edson, one of many volunteers who keeps the program running, it’s a labor of love. “The paychecks are many,” she said. “I get them almost every day. Something that makes me go, ‘Wow’. The benefits are amazing.” Joe Zavala is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 541-776-4469.    By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Nov. 7, 2014 @ 6:59 pm » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. 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