When Ed Dopp took on his new position in July as director of physical education and athletics for the North Colonie Central School District, he said the academic program was second to none, but in terms of athletics, [We’re] not there yet.
With that in mind, Dopp presented a revised edition of this year’s district plan for physical education to the North Colonie Central School District Board of Education Thursday, Oct. 16, that includes a few changes he would like to see made this year to strengthen the district’s program, as well as state-regulated requirements.
Dopp said the state is in the process of auditing physical education programs in school districts throughout the state. The first district to be audited successfully in the Capital District was the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District, so Dopp and his staff attempted to create a district plan that was similar to theirs.
In addition to the district plan, which includes rules about safety of athletic equipment, misuse of facilities, report card standards, time allotment of physical education classes based on grades, sports that will be practiced in physical education class and more, Dopp discussed interscholastic athletics with members of the board.
An interscholastic athletic, as Dopp explained, is an extracurricular sports activity that students can begin on the seventh- and eighth-grade level.
`In it, there are over 80 different teams and over 29 different programs,` Dopp said. Teaching those teams, there are over 110 coaches, according to Dopp, and there are at least 80 different levels of the teams that compete against other schools.
Dopp said that all of the interscholastic teams, and physical education classes are run with one fundamental mission at hand: `to produce well-rounded, good adults.`
`We believe that participation is the best arena to teach those students life lessons,` Dopp said.
In doing so, Dopp has added a requirement in the district plan to have each team complete at least one act of community service per season.
`The fact that it is being asked of every program is new,` he said.
Dopp said he believes that the community service participation will encourage the teams to reach out to their communities for support.
Another change Dopp said he would like to see is an influx of new and `creative` activities being completed in physical education so that each student can find at least one activity that they become passionate about and want to work on to stay healthy.
Among the activities already offered in the physical education program are archery, cross-country skiing, soccer, baseball and basketball.
`Our ultimate goal is to find an activity out there for everyone,` Dopp said. `One of our major contributions is against childhood obesity.`
Dopp’s athletic staff is currently in the process of brainstorming new activities for the students.
Another change that the athletic department will see this year is an extended presence of an athletic trainer.
According to Dopp, in the past, the district has used a certified EMT, on top of utilizing the services of a certified athletic trainer. Now, the district is able to have all of the first aid services taken care of by a certified personal trainer in the fall, spring and winter seasons.
Prior to this year, the certified personal trainer was available at the school between two and three days a week.
With Dopp’s plan, the certified personal trainer would be available five days per week for five hours a day.
What Dopp’s plan did not include was the purchase of new equipment, although Dopp said he would like to see improvements made to the weight room down the road.
Superintendent of Schools Randy Ehrenberg said the Board of Education was pleased with Dopp’s plan and that there were no objections.
`He did a wonderful, thorough job presenting the plan to us,` she said.
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