GETTING THE GIRLS TO GROWL

Lewis and Clark Middle School

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BILLINGS, Montana—Paul Mansingh's eighth-grade PE students fill the computer lab, searching Web sites for information on communicable diseases. Frowning with concentration and emitting oohs and ahs of discovery, they are cutting and pasting facts into reports. Mansingh's class will return several more times to the lab during the year to research health issues or work with educational software programs.

The way Mansingh blends computers with a varied selection of physical activities and an extensive health curriculum, while equalizing participation in the gym, sets his program apart from the garden-variety PE program.

For example, Mansingh noticed that when his classes played basketball, aggressive players would so dominate the game that nonaggressive children scarcely participated. He experimented to alter those dynamics and provide a quality experience for all. Now, he has the kids play two-on-two, three-on-three, or four-on-four, followed by separate boys' and girls' tournaments. "By then," says Mansingh, "we all have a good idea of who is and isn't aggressive. The kids split into two groups along those lines, and they choose. The kids like this. They're relieved, actually. Mostly it's boys who are aggressive and girls that aren't, but not entirely.

"But after awhile," Mansingh continues, "among the nonaggressive kids, leaders emerge. The whole group gets more assertive. When I separate girls and guys in football, I find the girls really get into their own game and start growling and going after the ball. It's great!"

Mansingh's program evenly balances health and physical education, and the curriculum for both halves is extensive. In health education, he starts with a review of body systems and functions, using computer software among other tools. Units on drug awareness; tobacco and alcohol; the mental, physical, and emotional aspects of health; and communicable and noncommunicable diseases follow.

In a mental health unit, the children discuss how to develop a positive self-concept and make decisions, and how to handle stress, verbal attacks, and emotional problems. Mansingh wasn't happy with the worksheets that came with the textbook. "They were too easy," he explains. "Now I ask questions and have students write whole-sentence answers, and they communicate so much more. They gripe, but the material covered is too important to skim over."

In the unit on illegal drug use, as for others, Mansingh works to get group discussion going. "I pass a football around, and only the person holding the football can talk," he says. "We have ground rules. No put-downs. All ideas are valuable. No personal questions. Everything is confidential.

"They have lots of questions, and they are really open. Sometimes I hear more than I want to, but that's OK. I'm open about myself, too. We've had great discussions."

The fitness of all 160 of Mansingh's eighth-graders is assessed according to the standards developed by the President's Challenge Physical Fitness Program. Students develop fitness goals for themselves and work toward them every day.

In the rest of the time, students move through paddleball, ultimate Frisbee, weight training, capture the flag, touch football, and weight training, in addition to team sports. In the latter half of the year, students bowl and walk, as well as play soccer, flag football, and softball.

The next step at Lewis and Clark will be for all the PE teachers to work together to create a more uniform program. "There are many teachers here with good ideas, doing similar things," Mansingh says, "but currently we each pick what we want to teach from 25 possible objectives, because if you did it all you'd rush through important information. We're working now on a process whereby we agree on which are the most important, and all work on the same 12."

Meanwhile, Mansingh, who has been teaching for only six years, continues to listen and watch his students for clues for how better to help them become healthier, more active people. "I demand a lot from them," he says. "I tell my kids, if you get an A in my class, you know you've done really excellent work."

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