Foothills Academy’s Physical Education program, which is integral to the school’s mission of educating the whole child, encourages students not only to exercise their physical bodies but to experience, explore, challenge, express and perform. The program is directed at lifelong learning and lifelong recreational sports rather than intramural competition. Emphasis is on individual competencies and team-building, not on reaching superior skill levels and team competition. This approach respects individual differences and engages all students in the program’s activities.
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The Physical Education program has two additional and unique components. First, students in all grades participate in three off-campus activities each winter. These include swimming, gymnastics, ice skating, rock climbing, and fencing. Second, the Physical Education program coordinates with the Outings program to teach basic outdoors skills, as well as cooperation, teamwork, and critical thinking, which apply to all facets of life. |
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The emphasis for the Kindergarten, First, and Second Grades is:
- introduction to the world of movement and sports through developmentally appropriate games, role playing, and a variety of other challenges
- focus on acquiring locomotor and manipulative skills
- development of concepts of self and general space, directions and levels, relationship of body parts, relationships with objects
- familiarization with play and sports equipment
- learning to play with, rather than against, each other.
The emphasis for the Third and Fourth Grades is:
- transitioning from movement to sports education
- supplementation of basic sports techniques with increasing complexity of games
- continued development of master of manipulative and locomotor skills
- playing both with and against each other
- group participation, leadership, and problem-solving activities
- introduction to fitness concepts through discussion and activities
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Basketball
A larger
pig-skinned
orange
tennis ball
Used to go inside
the net or the basket.
Many rules
the referee blows the whistle
loud
in the team’s ears.
Running on the court
makes the most horrendous
squeaking noise.
The ball dribbled on the court,
crowds cheering their teams,
coaches yelling, guiding the players,
the sub-in players waiting,
excitedly and ask when they can come in,
panting and exhausted player wheezing for air,
the loud noise of the
game is why it’s
sooooo exciting.
Tahnee J.,
Eighth Grade |
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The emphasis for the Fifth and Sixth Grades is:
- improvement of personal athletic skills and awareness of social interaction
- participation in group communication, leadership, and problem-solving activities
- improvement of basic skills in a variety of sports disciplines
- introduction to individual game tactics
- learning to play with, against, and for each other.
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The emphasis for the Seventh and Eighth Grades is:
- further development of personal athletic skills and deepened awareness of and knowledge about sports in general, including fitness and health
- continued improvement of basic skills in a variety of sports disciplines
- development with increased understanding of individual and team tactics
- creation of, adaptation to, and following of rules on their own.
The emphasis for the Ninth through Twelfth Grades is:
- various electives offered to promote lifelong involvement in sports activities
- the integration into the curriculum of students’ various needs, expectations, interests and abilities into the curriculum
- coordination of the Physical Education program and the Outings program with "Polishing the Diamond," the Eleventh and Twelfth-Grade philosophical umbrella, under which students create goals and demonstrate their successes around personal, academic and emotional/spiritual growth.
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