To educate students on survival skills and encourage them to go outside, Souderton has implemented a new gym class called Outdoor Adventure and Fitness.
“[The main goal of the class] is that there are a lot of ways to be fit and be active,” wellness teacher Michael Bergey said. “Being outside has so many benefits because you get sunlight, fresh air and expose yourself to nature.”
Outdoor Adventure and Fitness teaches many valuable skills for young people, according to junior Rawan Baker.
“I learned that I can go outside more and really explore nature,” Baker said. “[Bergey] taught us a lot about rucking [hiking with a weighted backpack] and I never had been into that before this class. It was a new experience for me and I really enjoyed it.”
To many students, a normal day for the class is unlike many traditional classes.
According to Bergey, the class engages in several different activities and skills involving the environment, such as archery.
“Every student is assigned a topic or project that will explore some sort of outdoor adventure and then we will go do whatever activity it was,” Bergey said. “We have gone out in the woods on campus and built shelters. We learned what you can do to survive in the woods. We have also done a lot of rucking.”
The unique style of learning is refreshing, according to senior Ben McMackin.
“I researched about hydrofoiling [using water mechanics to enhance speed in water activities such as surfing or kiteboarding], which is something I never learned about before,” McMackin said. “Being able to learn about a new outdoor activity to do was really nice.”
The class was created to show the other side of physical education and what it looks like, according to Bergey.
“But when it comes to other activities, there’s a lot of other ways you can be active and be outside that are different than lifting weights and doing burpees, ” Bergey said. “We want to explore and expose students to other options.”
Baker agrees that outdoor class introduces a new perspective on exercise.
“It gives students a new, different perspective on working out. [Mr. Bergey] gives us lots of different workouts and it feels good to be doing something different,” Baker said.
The final for the class is a cumulation of all the skills and content learned in class, according to Bergey.
“[Students] have to hit a certain number of targets in archery to move on to the next stage, then the next stage involves a compass and rucksack,” Bergey said. “They have to navigate to different locations on the campus with a compass and at each location they will find an answer of some sort that they will write down.”
The final stage involves following a map to different locations, dropping their equipment and sprinting back to the starting point as fast as possible, according to Bergey.
The Outdoor Adventure and Fitness class was able to go on a field trip to Lake Nockamixon.
The trip was a way for the class to exercise their skills, according to Bergey.
“We were able to do some hiking, kayaking and paddleboarding on the lake,” Bergey said. “I would love to be able to do more stuff like that.”
The students enjoyed the outdoors, according to McMackin.
“We were able to go to Lake Nockamixon earlier this year, it was so much fun,” McMackin said. “It was a great time.”
Baker believes that outdoor class can be beneficial and worth a try for everyone.