Mickle students strengthen academic muscles through physical education class

October 23, 2024

Mickle Middle School students Korbyn, Caden and Taytum left the school’s weight room this fall knowing they had just strengthened their muscles of confidence, perseverance and self-esteem.
 
All three students are building their physical, mental, social and emotional powers through a new strength and conditioning class for eighth graders. Mickle piloted the physical education course in January 2023 and offered a full year of strength training in 2023-24. The class is currently available at seven middle schools and will be offered to all eighth graders within the next two years.
 
Korbyn beamed as she heard Mickle teacher Anna McVay encourage her during her last set of weights on the bench press. Korbyn will play basketball for the Missiles this winter and wants to improve her power, agility and endurance. She said it has been fun adding more numbers to her bench press marks this semester.
 
What’s the best part about taking the class?
 
“That I’m getting stronger for my sport,” Korbyn said.
 
Caden and Taytum also said they have noticed many benefits from the class. Caden participates in football, basketball and track and field at Mickle, and Taytum is thriving in both softball and wrestling.
 
“It’s really helped me get a lot stronger for sports, and I’ve liked being able to do this with my friends,” Caden said. “I can tell that I’ve gotten stronger already.”
 
“I think it’s made me mentally stronger for sure,” Taytum said. “Confidence-wise I’d say it’s definitely helped. I know I can do a lot of things now because I’ve been able to see the progress I’ve made here.”
 
Those words were music to the ears of McVay, who has been teaching health and physical education at Mickle for 15 years. She has enjoyed watching students learn lifelong skills such as time management, discipline and teamwork from the course.
 
“They’re intrigued by it,” McVay said. “They want to work out, they want to be better, they want to get stronger. There’s tons of buy-in, which creates a lot of excitement from them, so it’s really fun to see from my point of view.”
 
Matt Avey said the strength class is one of the best physical education courses offered by Lincoln Public Schools. Avey, the curriculum specialist for K-12 health and physical education at LPS, said he has been pleased with the way students have responded to the academic opportunity.
 
“It provides the students with foundational knowledge and skill development necessary to continue strength and conditioning at the high school phase, and it also provides tremendous confidence and competence to middle school students at a transition phase in their academic pathway in LPS,” Avey said. “Having these skills and seeing actual improvement is a tremendous asset to any adolescent, and it provides them with the desire to continue working on their own personal fitness!”
 
The seed for the class was planted eight years ago when Avey finished writing curriculum and objectives for all high school strength courses. He asked high school teachers for their input on growing the program throughout LPS. All of them said long-term athletic development (LTAD) was essential for teaching younger students about physical fitness.
 
The solution came when McVay approached Avey about the possibility of piloting a strength class for eighth graders at Mickle. She wanted to provide a solid workout foundation for them to rely on when they moved to high school. That included learning the details of every lift, becoming knowledgeable about muscles and tendons and realizing the importance of setting goals.
 
“I immediately knew we had found our starting point and we quickly got to work,” Avey said. “Anna has been instrumental in taking a concept and making it a reality.”
 
McVay said one of her biggest goals has been creating a place where students of all experience levels can feel comfortable. She has emphasized to the Missiles that the weight room is a judgment-free zone because everyone is learning together.
 
“Everyone should be respectful and encouraging in every capacity, and I just wanted it to be a gym that was not intimidating,” McVay said. “Because a lot of times, even as adults, people don’t go to gyms because they’re intimidated. They don’t want to take strength in high school because they’re intimidated.
 
"I wanted it to be a safe environment where they felt like they could learn and know that not everyone around them knows what they’re doing either. We’re all new to this.”
 
The strength course is currently offered at Mickle, Dawes, Schoo, Moore, Lefler, Irving and Scott. Avey said Lux and Culler will have weight rooms installed this spring and will begin offering the course next fall. Goodrich, Park and Pound are slated to add weight rooms in 2025-26.
 
McVay said it is rewarding to watch students like Korbyn, Caden and Taytum leave her classroom with a sense of accomplishment and joy.
 
“That is probably the coolest part,” McVay said. “I never speak numbers with kids of, ‘Oh, you got 225 on the bar.’ I don’t do any of that. It’s more so of they’ve improved, their movement pattern has improved, they have put more weight on the bar. I don’t care how much weight, but they are increasing their strength.
 
“And they have an immense sense of pride with that. They know there’s an association between their work day in and day out and their strength going up every single week, every single day.”

To learn more about our Physical Education curriculum, visit our website at https://home.lps.org/pe. 
 
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