At Liberty Central High School in New York, physical education is setting a new standard with its elective, Personal Fitness. An impressive 250 of the school’s 570 students are enrolled in the class, making it one of the most popular programs at the school.
Centered around choice, differentiation, and personalized workouts, Personal Fitness has captured the interest of students from all backgrounds and fitness levels. Scott Hamlin, the PE teacher and coach leading the program, reflects on its success,
“A personalized PE experience motivates and incentivizes students to work toward their individual goals. You can see the buy-in and connections growing on a daily basis.”
Liberty Central High School has built a thriving personalized physical education program by establishing a solid foundation, offering students meaningful choices, and expanding the initiative with strong support from the administration.
Establishing A Foundation For Personalized Physical Education
While all students in Personal Fitness eventually progress to a wide range of choices and options, Scott ensures that their journey begins with a strong foundation. Because the elective is open to all students, 9th-12th grade, each semester brings a new batch of students that have never been in the class before.
Regardless of grade level, all students new to the class start on an introductory program focused on building key skills. Scott describes the approach,
“Our introductory program serves as a guide for students to start learning exercises and movements. It is all about exposure so that students can start building confidence and exploring the different choices and options they will have once they complete the intro portion of the class.”
While more advanced and returning students can dive right into their personalized programs, Scott works closely with the new students to focus on building a strong foundation. To help support this goal, Liberty Central students also have access to instructional videos from PLT4M that Scott describes as a great addition to learning the ropes of Personal Fitness,
“For our new students, the PLT4M videos help answer questions, review form and technique, and take learning a step further. The videos also help me spend more time getting into the details and specifics with students instead of being tied up answering the basics.”
Personalized Physical Education Driven By Student Choice
The Personal Fitness classes, driven by student choice, allow students to select from a variety of programs and workout options that align with their individual goals and needs. This flexibility is available to all students, whether at the beginning of the semester for returning students or after new students have completed the introductory unit.
Scott explains why student choice is central to creating a personalized physical education experience,
“Students have a lot of choices in class. We have workout programs for athletes, general fitness, and more. And if students want to switch, they can because we don’t want to pigeonhole them—we want to help them find something they enjoy doing.”
To deliver this personalized approach, Scott uses PLT4M to create, manage, and deliver the diverse workouts within a single class period,
“I love creating new programs, adding new variations, and making specific workout plans that give students more choices. With PLT4M, I can keep giving students more options. And the more choices, the better for our students.”
Within these choices, students who use weights benefit from an even more personalized experience through the PLT4M app. Each student receives an individualized workout tailored to their specific fitness levels and abilities, allowing for a more targeted and effective approach to their fitness goals.
Personalized Data Drives Goals & Progress
At the heart of Liberty Central’s personalized physical education program are the students’ individual goals. While it drives the different program options, it also helps support positive conversations and reflections on goals and progress,
Throughout the year, Scott offers opportunities for students to write and create goals within the Personal Fitness class. With PLT4M, Scott explains how students can monitor and track how they are doing throughout the year,
“We touch base at different points throughout the school year to explore progress, change or alter goals, and keep a personalized approach to what students are doing in class.”
And because there is so much going on inside the Liberty Central weight room throughout a class period, day, and year, Scott turns to his teacher dashboard in PLT4M to help monitor and stay on track of all the awesome things going on,
“The live sessions feature lets me see what kids are doing throughout the class period. I can see progress in real time. And the reports and leaderboards give me different options to highlight and showcase growth in different ways.”
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Continued Commitment To Personalized Physical Education For Liberty Central
Liberty Central High School is experiencing an exciting transformation in physical education, with student engagement in the Personal Fitness program at an all-time high. The elective, centered around choice and personalized workouts, has attracted 250 of the school’s 570 students, and even more are eager to enroll. Personalized physical education is proving to be a key factor in student success, with students motivated to achieve their individual health and wellness goals.
Scott credits much of the program’s success to his supportive administration. Reflecting on the positive changes, Hamlin notes,
“There are many reasons these classes are proving to be so successful, but our new space and weight room have certainly helped build excitement with our new students. This update and many other supportive initiatives show how our administration has really embodied a commitment to our program that makes a huge difference.”
Looking ahead, Liberty Central plans to expand the impact of personalized physical education, including integrating PLT4M into health and middle school programs. The school is committed to widening its reach, emphasizing the power of personalized PE to engage students and foster lasting success in health and wellness.
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