Students tested for level of fitness in PE classes

Junior Mengjiao Li remembers her first mile in P.E. sophomore year. It took her 12 minutes to finish the run. But just a year later and with the help of training in her P.E. class, she is able to run a 7:30 mile and would like to improve even more.

Li and other P.E. students each week are assessed in either running or rowing. Every Monday, students complete a 1600m run, an 800m run, a 400m run, a 20-minute run or a 500m row. Students are also assessed on pull-ups and push-ups at least three times a semester.

These are seven of the 10 minimum standards P.E. students must meet. According to P.E. teacher Richard Ellis, multiple tests throughout the semester provide students with more opportunities to reach the standards, and meeting the standards accounts for 20 percent of a P.E. student’s grade.

The 1600m run and the 800m run test cardiovascular endurance, while the 400m run and the 500m row measure stamina and strength, he said. There are also tests on deadlifts, front squats, shoulder presses and cleans. Along with the push-up and pull-up tests, these assessments measure a student’s strength.

But even with the difficulties that come with reaching the standards, many students feel that fitness testing provides a baseline for what kind of shape they’re in.

Freshman Adonia Thai, for example, feels that fitness testing benefits students by creating “a goal for everyone to strive and reach for.” She herself is working at a goal to complete a pull-up.

To Thai, fitness tests are designed to be passed with ease “because  a high percentage of people have no trouble reaching [the standards] the first time, let alone getting three tries so everyone can meet them.”

Li’s improvement in running is an example of how beneficial the assessments on the mile are for students.

Not all students take a regular P.E. class, however. Students who play sports one semester take Athletic P.E. during their off-season. Those in band must take Band P.E., and football players have a special seventh period P.E. class during second semester.

Some standards for the fitness assessments of regular P.E. and ninth grade Band P.E. include 10 push-ups for boys and three for girls at the end of the first semester. Then the standards increase to 16 and seven for the end of the second semester. In Athletic P.E., however, the standards from first to second semester for boys is 20 to 23, and for girls is 10 to 13.

“As students get older and stronger and more fit they should be able to demonstrate improvements in their fitness levels,” Ellis said. “As an analogy, it is similar to a math student taking Algebra 1. Once mastery is achieved, they advance to a higher level math [like] Geometry or Algebra 2.”

Besides fitness testing within the P.E. department, all freshmen must take the California State Fitness Test. In the spring, freshmen are assessed on the mile run, sit-ups, push-ups, trunk lift, sit and reach and their heights and weights are measured.

Despite perceived difficulty of fitness tests, sophomore Andrea Hwang feels that there is an important lesson that comes with them.

“I think they are [a fair measure of one’s fitness] because in order to be fit, one should set goals for themselves, and reaching that goal would be a significant achievement,” Hwang said. “However, I know that in P.E., some standards are not attainable by some people, but the main part of P.E. is doing your best and trying your hardest to reach a certain point.”