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Health & Physical Education The Secondary Physical Education CDP is focused on developing a curriculum that enhances the CRLS small learning communities, while helping each student acquire the skills necessary to attain total fitness. We define total fitness as the development of the body as a whole, including the spiritual, mental, emotional, social and cultural, as well as the physical being. Because our secondary physical education teachers are also health educators, our comprehensive health education goals, especially the continued development of resiliency skills, which is the ability to thrive, persevere, and maintain a positive attitude and healthy bodies are critical components of this CDP. In regards to integration with the CPS Mission and Goal Statements, secondary physical education and health staff play an important role in achieving the school department goal of ensuring that all students "achieve success in school'' by insuring all children receive support and instruction in the development of their physical and psycho-social well-being through the provision of health and physical activity programs. During FY02-03 members of the community and staff worked on and developed a five-year plan. This plan included a mission and goal statement for the HPEA department that is inclusive and supportive of the CPS mission and goals. Our physical educators strive to utilize their curriculum as they work within the small learning communities to meet the school committee's goal of "excellence in every classroom". We believe that Physical Education is critical for academic success. Students who participate in physical activities programs have been demonstrated to: reduce susceptibility to stress, decrease involvement in disruptive behaviors, and increase concentration. A study by the department of education in California concluded that students who are more physically fit do better than those that are not in standardized (math and language arts) achievement test conducted in their state. Cambridge will exam this during our health and fitness data collection process and expect to see similar results as those found across the country. Physical education is an essential experience in human development and important life skills are promoted through quality physical education programs. By participating regularly in a broad spectrum of activities, students have a channel of learning that allows each of them, regardless of ability, to meet physical challenges, develop essential motor skills, assess individual abilities, appreciate the fun and joy of human movement, and at the same time develop strategies for improvement. The physical education curriculum encourages participants to become aware of fitness and conditioning for a lifetime, to accomplish tasks by cooperating as a member of a diverse group, and to develop self-worth and qualities for leadership. They do this by providing equitable treatment and access for all students regardless of race, class, language, gender or ability levels and by insuring a learning environment that stresses the ancient Greek philosophy of the total body, mind, and spirit we strive to educate students to work toward a balanced lifestyle. By working to ensure the health of students, the department does support the mission and goals of the CPS by ensuring that students are healthy, ready, and prepared to learn. We believe that Thomas Jefferson said it best when he so eloquently stated that, "Exercise and recreation . . . are as necessary as reading. I would rather say more necessary, because health is worth more than learning" and M. Jocelyn Elders when the former Surgeon General stated, "You can't educate a child who isn't healthy and you can't keep a child healthy who isn't educated." |