Body Sculpting/ Weight Training
Body Sculpting / Weight Training is one of the various physical education courses that students can choose to take as an elective. The course is open to everyone but freshman. A large part of the class is seeing how your strength can improve during the school year.
“We measure our strengths at the beginning of the year, where to improve them throughout the year. And at the end of the year, we measure how much we’ve improved,” said Caleb Carlton (‘22).
Each day of the class involves doing a different workout focusing on strengthening a different part of the body.
“Coach Swank has a set workout for us every day that we follow. And it helps each person work on different parts of their body. So we have leg days and arm days, and then on Fridays, we have a day where we do five exercises of our own that works on whatever we would like,” said Taylor Flowers (‘22).
Students in the class have quizzes monthly and sometimes have to find an article on a certain topic, but there are no other writing assignments given in class.
“We get a quiz once or twice every month. […] Sometimes we’ll have like a test where we have to look up a health article for losing weight or gaining weight. And then we email it to him,” said Lauren Peoples (‘22).
Students described the class as a lot more physical work than all the other physical education classes but recommended that students should take it if they have the opportunity.
JROTC
Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, more commonly known as JROTC is a pathway that aims to give students an in-depth understanding of the US military. JROTC focuses on providing students with exercise, leadership, and discipline.
“In JROTC you learn how to become a leader. Let ones learn the basics of the army and learn what the military is. From there on, you will learn basic life skills like learning how to lead others when needed,” said Daniel Gerardo (’25).
There are four LET ( Leadership, Education, and Training) levels in JROTC. Gerardo explains that LET 1 is the beginner level for JROTC. This is where all the cadets are introduced to what JROTC is as well as learning the basics of the army.
In addition to leadership training, students participate in community service outside of school.
“Every semester you have to do nine volunteer hours, which is a great way to get us out into the community,” said Alex Jovanovic (‘22).
While some community service is mandatory, there are also lots of other options available through JROTC, including color guard and raider team.
“The best part is the raiders team,” said Brown. “It’s like an athletic thing. You do obstacle courses, you flip tires and stuff. It’s all about leadership and teamwork. You can never do it by yourself.”
The coursework itself was not considered to be too difficult. While some activities, such as memorizing military ranks, could be considered tedious, the tests are not too demanding.
Students also spoke of a welcoming and encouraging environment, both from fellow students and from the teachers.
“Both instructors are helpful and they tend to always give you good advice on anything,” said Gerardo.
Aquatics
Aquatics is one of many physical education courses offered at Chamblee High School for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. It is only offered during seventh period and is currently taught by Mr. Valley. In this course, students will learn the form and techniques for different swim strokes. This class seems to be a good fit for any students looking for less homework, when asked about the workload, senior Carmen Anastasi (‘25) said:
“I have never had homework in aquatics, but you do have to get in the pool every single day. So far, we’ve had two projects, but it’s making a two-slide PowerPoint.”
As far as the enjoyment of the course, students have said that it is an enjoyable experience as long as you have friends with you.
“If you have a good amount of friends in class like if you’re taking it with a group of friends, it’s fun,” said Anastasi.
Intro to Team Sports
Intro to Team Sports is one of the many physical education classes offered at Chamblee High School and depending on the class period, it may be taught by Coach Freeman, Coach Terry, or Coach Jackson. This class is offered to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Students looking for an easier class with a lighter workload may want to look into this course.
“We just have to participate in class. The only homework I got was a makeup assignment for missing a week, and it was really easy,” said Nora Glass (‘25).
During class, students spend time participating in many games where they get to spend time with friends as well as exercise.
“We play games like 4-square or “bulldog tag” or just throwing a frisbee around. It’s about the most fun you could expect from a class like this,” said Glass.
As for the physical stress that this course may put on your body, there isn’t much.
“The only part I don’t like is running for a grade but you get used to it eventually. We aren’t doing anything really hard on the body other than running and it’s only a mile max. I don’t get sore later or anything,” said Glass.