Strength and Conditioning classes unable to go outside due to cold weather
Due to being forced to use the field-house for class, winter weather patterns have made Strength and Conditioning classes stay indoors and have study hall periods
December 31, 2019
Due to increasingly inclement weather patterns, Strength and Conditioning classes have been forced to stay indoors during class. Classes that would usually be spent in the fieldhouse lifting weights are now spent inside the school. When the weather doesn’t permit them to go outdoors, students in Strength and Conditioning classes are herded into the commons to have a study hall period. These days have become increasingly prevalent recently with a fluctuation in cold weather patterns.
The obstacle is new this year, with classes forced to use the fieldhouse as a temporary weight room during construction of the new gym and weight room. Strength and Conditioning teacher Joel Applebee emphasizes that while having to stay indoors now might be problematic, the end result of the construction will make the problems worthwhile.
“The weather is just something that we’re going to have to deal with,” Applebee said. “It’s a minor problem with the end goal in mind. The idea of what our new facilities are going to be like after the construction is complete is what makes this struggle worth it.”
Applebee is confident that the weather issues should not be viewed as a deterrent to the direction of the course. As something that is uncontrollable, it shouldn’t hold any significance to the course and the focus should lie on the things in the class that can be regulated.
“We obviously don’t want to stay inside and our ability to go outside just depends on the weather, which is something that we can’t control,” Applebee said. “Since we can’t control it there is no reason to worry about it; we will just focus on taking advantage of the days that we can go outside.”
The criteria for what constitutes a day that they are allowed to go outside varies, but teachers do whatever they can to make sure students are able to get the exercise they need to stay on track.
“It’s determined on a day-by-day basis based upon what the weather provides,” Applebee said. “We want to get out there as much as possible so we’re trying to do everything that we possibly can to stay on track.”
Applebee evidently isn’t particularly worried about how missed days will affect the general direction of the course or having to make up those missed days as the semester wraps up. Similarly, students enrolled in Strength and Conditioning like sophomore Collin Rule enjoy the opportunity to have a study hall during classes that are missed without worrying about a loss of workdays.
“It’s nice because it gives us all time to work on homework or just relax and do other things,” Rule said.
According to Rule, the missed days have been too infrequent to have any significant impact on the direction of the class or students’ performances in the class.
“I don’t think there have been any negative effects from us having to stay indoors in strength class,” Rule said. “I don’t think it has really been a big enough deal or frequent enough to take any toll on our performance in the class.”
Rule feels certain that there are many students who would still want to be outside lifting weights, regardless of the weather, but that the class is divided between those students and those who would rather have a study hall.
“I’m sure there are some people who would rather be out there lifting weights and working out on the days that we have to stay inside,” Rule said. “Nonetheless, a lot of us are perfectly fine staying indoors and getting a chance to work on other schoolwork.”
Despite bleak weather conditions, students and teachers remain undeterred by the looming winter and optimistic about what the future of the class holds.
