Troy P.E. Podcast Serving Students During Remote Learning

The Troy P.E. teachers who have begun a podcast for William B. Orenic Intermediate School students say it's, “all the info without the smell.”

Podcasts are web-based audio recordings that can be listened over the internet.

The podcast’s presenters are P.E. instructors Adam DeGroot, Tom Knapczyk and Clint Reames. They record the “Timeout with Boys’ P.E.” podcast once a week and post it on the school’s webpage. The episodes are for girls, as well as boys, they emphasize, and even for parents and other family members if they are inclined. The three instructors normally teach just the boys at W.B.O., which is why they used the word, “boys,” when naming the podcast.

The first four episodes are titled, “Win the Day,” “Controlling the Controllables,”

“No Complaining,” and “The Power of Positivity.”

Over the summer, as the teachers planned how they would teach physical education during remote learning, they knew they would be able to conduct their daily P.E. classes online, but they also envisioned an additional way of reaching their students. They decided on an optional podcast that the students could listen to whenever they wanted, without having to sit at a desk looking at a screen. Through the podcasts, they would deliver messages of encouragement and positivity.

“P.E is not just about being physically activity,” DeGroot said. “It’s also about our students’ social and emotional needs. It goes hand in hand with mental health. There are so many challenges that this school year has brought to us, and we figured that everyone could benefit from a few minutes of a podcast on how you can increase your positive outlook and stay motivated.”

DeGroot said he has seen the difficulty himself in staying positive.

“It’s so easy to find yourself complaining,” he said. “It’s easy to get in that rut.”

“What did you do today to get better?” Reames said in the podcast’s first episode. “Get better at something you do every day.”

“Each night,” Knapczyk said, “reflect on your day and what you’ve done well, and set a goal for tomorrow. Try to consistently get better at something every day.”

“I think it’s awesome that they’re doing this for their students,” Troy Director of Athletics and Activities Meagan DeGroot said about the podcast. “They need role models outside of their homes to give them this information and encouragement. We are also talking about implementing these ideals for sports and activities when we come back to in-school learning.”

Apart from the podcast, W.B.O. Intermediate School students have daily video P.E. classes that include such activities as interval training, squats, burpee tuck jumps, lunges, skaters, and “Tabata Tuesday” workouts that use equipment or household items the students have at home.