By ALICE GOMSTYN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: December 14, 2005)

Don't call them gym teachers Some who teach physical education are arguing that, as their field evolves, the phrase "gym teacher" is becoming, at best, antiquated, and, at worst, insulting. "We are physical educators," said Rob Battista of Ossining High School. "We're educators just like everybody else in the building. 'Gym' is more of a demeaning term." "Gym is where you go," said Tom Collins, the director of physical education and athletics for the Pearl River school district. "Physical education is what takes place in the gym."

Dance music blares from speakers overhead as some two-dozen kickboxing enthusiasts pummel their punching bags, practicing moves like jabs, uppercuts and roundhouse kicks.

When faces begin to glisten with sweat and once-robust arms and legs turn weary, instructor Joan Neuendorf offers spirited encouragement.

"You guys are doing great," she yells. "Hang in there."

The scene looks like one out of a typical health club — but it's not. It's a cardio-kickboxing class at Suffern High School.

Shannon Lynch, 17, a senior at Suffern High, said she's no fan of sports offered in traditional physical education classes. But she likes the kickboxing class because "it makes me work."

As concerns grow about obesity in the United States, schools are expanding their physical education, or P.E., offerings, adding programs on everything from spinning to self-defense to draw students who might otherwise shrink from participating in physical education.

"The obesity level has increased, childhood diabetes has increased," said Neuendorf, director of physical education for Ramapo Central schools. "We've become more of a sedentary society." With new and different classes, she said, "we're trying to reach out to the everyday kids."

Increasingly, educators are putting an emphasis on activities that students can continue to pursue long after they graduate from high school, said Mark Manross, the executive director of PE Central, a Web site for physical education and health teachers.

"Lifetime activities" like rock climbing or tennis, Manross said, "are taking the place of team sports," which are hard for adults to organize.

"Football is difficult to do when you're 40 and you don't have 20 people to sign up" to play the game, he said.

At Fox Lane High School in Bedford, physical education director Tom Caione said the school's 3-year-old Project Adventure unit — part of a national outdoor-education program — will inspire students to get into activities such as hiking, orienteering and climbing.

The idea "is really to provide a lifetime wellness activity," Caione said. "We all know that regular, consistent exercise is probably the No. 1 one thing, along with good nutrition, that people could do to enhance the quality of their life."

But it's not just about fitness. Some nontraditional physical education classes are helping students hone practical skills while working up a sweat.

New offerings at Ossining High School include programs in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, firefighting and officiating soccer games. Ossining freshman Molly Plotkin, 14, said she chose to take a half-year CPR class because it might someday prove useful.

Learning CPR requires a lot of moving around, Molly said. But she doesn't mind the workout.

"In past years, we focused on sports and different activities. I'm not very athletic so it was hard for me to participate," she said. "Now we're able to do something that I actually enjoy."

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