Fighting To Keep P.E. Credits For The Marching Arts
Fighting To Keep P.E. Credits For The Marching Arts
Marching bands across the country are battling to maintain credits for P.E. courses.
An Illinois school board has approved a new policy that will restrict the number of physical education credit waivers that students participating in marching band are eligible to receive.
What does this mean for the students?
Following Monday's decision, students in Plainfield School District 202 in northeast Illinois will effectively be forced to either participate in a more "traditional" sport for a season or take a P.E. class. By restricting the waivers from two per student down to one, the district is compelling the students to fulfill the requirement by playing another sport or dropping another elective to take a P.E. class.
"It's important to point out that the band students don't want this exemption because they're trying to get out of P.E.," Plainfield South High School band director Jerrod Cook told The Herald-News. "They're trying to add another class to an already rigorous academic load."
This is not a battle located just in Plainfield.
Across the country, districts are constantly adjusting their view points on whether marching band is fulfilling the physical education that students need.
At Noblesville High School in Indiana, students who march either in the band or the color guard are eligible to received two credits for participation in two full seasons. A season is defined from the first practice until the last event. These two credits satisfy the curriculum's requirement.
In Ohio, students at New Albany High School are eligible for similar accreditation:
New Albany High School students may be excused from all physical education course requirements by participating in District-sponsored interscholastic athletics, marching band, or cheerleading for at least two full seasons while enrolled in high school.
On the West Coast, districts are moving in the opposite direction of Plainfield. The school board overseeing San Benito High School was leaning toward giving students P.E. credit for participating in marching band and/or the color guard.
As of January 2016, San Benito students were required to take 2 1/2 credits of P.E. Those requirements could be waived if students participated in athletics but students in the marching band and color guard would not be granted waivers.
However, San Benito High School Superintendent John Perales was pushing board trustee members to alter their stance on whether students participating in the marching arts should receive the same waivers like traditional sports. He cited the huge cardiovascular benefits of the marching arts as well as freeing the students' schedules to take an additional elective such as art, agriculture, woodworking, metalworking, or dance.
Drum Corps International (DCI), conducted a study in 2006 to demonstrate the impact on the body from marching. While most high school marching programs do not endure the extreme levels of marching that DCI members go through, marching would be more impactful than many typical P.E. class activities.
"I think that's a much better use of time than walking the track for an hour," Terry Wade, a senior at Plainfield South High School, told The Herald-News. "I was in gym class my freshman year and I can honestly say, we walked the track for an hour."
What does this mean for the students?
Following Monday's decision, students in Plainfield School District 202 in northeast Illinois will effectively be forced to either participate in a more "traditional" sport for a season or take a P.E. class. By restricting the waivers from two per student down to one, the district is compelling the students to fulfill the requirement by playing another sport or dropping another elective to take a P.E. class.
"It's important to point out that the band students don't want this exemption because they're trying to get out of P.E.," Plainfield South High School band director Jerrod Cook told The Herald-News. "They're trying to add another class to an already rigorous academic load."
This is not a battle located just in Plainfield.
Across the country, districts are constantly adjusting their view points on whether marching band is fulfilling the physical education that students need.
At Noblesville High School in Indiana, students who march either in the band or the color guard are eligible to received two credits for participation in two full seasons. A season is defined from the first practice until the last event. These two credits satisfy the curriculum's requirement.
In Ohio, students at New Albany High School are eligible for similar accreditation:
New Albany High School students may be excused from all physical education course requirements by participating in District-sponsored interscholastic athletics, marching band, or cheerleading for at least two full seasons while enrolled in high school.
On the West Coast, districts are moving in the opposite direction of Plainfield. The school board overseeing San Benito High School was leaning toward giving students P.E. credit for participating in marching band and/or the color guard.
As of January 2016, San Benito students were required to take 2 1/2 credits of P.E. Those requirements could be waived if students participated in athletics but students in the marching band and color guard would not be granted waivers.
However, San Benito High School Superintendent John Perales was pushing board trustee members to alter their stance on whether students participating in the marching arts should receive the same waivers like traditional sports. He cited the huge cardiovascular benefits of the marching arts as well as freeing the students' schedules to take an additional elective such as art, agriculture, woodworking, metalworking, or dance.
Drum Corps International (DCI), conducted a study in 2006 to demonstrate the impact on the body from marching. While most high school marching programs do not endure the extreme levels of marching that DCI members go through, marching would be more impactful than many typical P.E. class activities.
"I think that's a much better use of time than walking the track for an hour," Terry Wade, a senior at Plainfield South High School, told The Herald-News. "I was in gym class my freshman year and I can honestly say, we walked the track for an hour."