Milton Area High School has new school day rules in the fitness center for physical education students.
According to Phys Ed teacher Mr. Nick Fisher, the new rules are no phones, students receive workouts on paper taped on each rack and lifts are modified from previous lifts. The lifts are more organized for the students and focused on upper body and lower body lift days, he added.
Mr. Fisher’s department made the new weight room rules, he said. “We have rules so that there is order in the class, and it is not a free for all,” he added.
According to Mr. Fisher, the phone ban is his favorite new rule. “Taking the phones out of this setting has led to much more student engagement with their workouts and one another,” he explained.
Phones have been a problem in the weight room, Mr. Fisher said. Phones are not an issue since students do not need them to complete their lifts on the Teambuilder app anymore, he added.
Teambuilder was an app where student athletes could log their workouts, and the phys ed teacher could see their progress, Mr. Fisher explained. Students now log their workouts by using folders with workout charts in them, he said. One chart is for upper body workouts, and the second one is for lower body workouts, he added. Each student claims their charts and logs their workouts daily, Mr. Fisher said. “I have not had very many issues since doing away with phones entirely,” he added.
According to Mr. Fisher, the new rules are more structured, which is a good thing in the lifting setting.
“Honestly, it’s only been about two weeks, and I am extremely happy with how things are going. I look forward to seeing students get stronger and build one another up in class,” he said.
Mr. Fisher said that he will continue to reflect and change things for the students by getting student feedback at the end of the year. “I feel this is certainly a step in the right direction,” he added.
“I like that you can have a partner while you lift,” Sophomore Parker Hamilton said. However, he said he does not like the phone policy because Mr. Fisher takes phones right away if he sees them. “If you had your phone out for a long time, I could see why he would take it, but most of the time kids just want to change their music quickly,” he added.
Mr. Fisher said that he feels that students work hard in the gym if they like the particular sport they are playing in that season. If they do not enjoy that sport or are not in a sport, then they probably won’t work as hard, he added.
“I guess the same thing can be said about their lifts. If they like the lift, they are more likely to do it. If they are uncomfortable or don’t like the lift, then they won’t do it,” Mr. Fisher said.
