WOH For Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021
Physical Education in a Pandemic by Mark Goodspeed, PE Teacher
With COVID-19 making its impact on our entire society, teaching PE has been a little different this year for me! The pandemic has caused many challenges for students during PE, including the need to wear masks and remain socially distanced from one another.
This has led to many adapted ideas and plans instead of the general format of teaching one sports unit per month that I have followed for the past 15 years. As a PE teacher, one of the joys for me is planning games according to a full class size and reveling in the fun and energy and controlled chaos that playing a game entails. With the 5-8th grade in a hybrid model and some K-4 students learning virtual, I have definitely been creative in lesson planning this year.
K-3 is still learning fundamental gross movement activities and games, as we work on being good sports and teammates and what that means when working as a group to achieve a goal. Currently, students are playing games like scooter hockey and scooter crab soccer as we play games in the gym that allow us to maintain social distance and wear masks in addition to being fun to do. It’s even more important to exercise and move your body during the stress of a pandemic, and so I’ve enjoyed figuring out alternatives to “regular” PE.
4-8th grade has been doing sports units where students are able to social distance easily over the past 6 months. We began the year with playing pickleball outside in the lowers, and have continued on to our most recent unit in the gym, badminton. All grades recently finishing up a 1 v 1 double elimination tournament! Most kids have really enjoyed the process going from novice to experience in the sport in a few short weeks by pushing themselves to get as far as they can in the tournament, with many fun and exciting games as both players work to win the game. After mid-winter break, students will come back to learn the classic game of corn hole for a few weeks with another tournament before we move on to either volleyball or floor hockey. It has been a fun process to show the students new games that they have never tried before and to see them work hard at it to be successful.
Calendar of Events – Click Here
Wed. 2/24: 8:40 AM Online Chapel led by Pastor Peter Mueller – Celebrating Ash Wednesday
Wed. 3/3: 8:40 AM Online Chapel led by Jonathan Kopecky, Youth Minister
Fri. 3/5: Free Dress Day
Wed. 3/10: 8:40 AM Online Chapel led by Mrs. Okabayashi, Principal
Thurs. 3/11: Last Day of Trimester 2
Fri. 3/12: No School – Grading Day / ESC & Sand Dollar Programs Open
School, Extended School Care & Sand Dollar Club Closure – Friday, March 12
School will be closed on Friday, March 12 for trimester 2 grading day. However our ESC & Sand Dollar programs are open (ESC students need to pre-register).
Shoe Drive – Sponsored by Hope Student Grace M.
Got Sneakers? Why not donate them? Every pair of gently used sneakers are cleaned and given to people in need. Donating them will also keep the shoes out of landfills. We will be collecting them at Hope Lutheran lower parking lot on Saturday, March 20 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Watch for flyers with details coming home next month.
Chapel Offerings
Your chapel offerings continue to support Compassion International student, Christopher from Ghana. We have been providing hope and love to Christopher as his sponsor since November 2012! Use can use your yellow envelopes found in the Tuesday communication folder or in your classroom and turn them in during Chapel time or when with your homeroom teacher.
Thank you for your support.
Church Events – Click Here
West Seattle Baseball Registration
West Seattle Baseball would like to invite students to join them for baseball this spring. Follow this link to register at http://www.westseattlebaseball.com/registration2021
