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Physical
Educators are increasingly responsible for teaching overall wellness
alongside traditional Physical Education Units. This responsibility
has brought new activities to the gym such as rock climbing. Climbing
is a lifetime sport that is an effective educational tool for Physical
Education, Special Education, Adventure Learning, Experiential Education,
as well as extracurricular activities. Climbing builds overall wellness,
which consists of physical well-being such as strength, flexibility,
and coordination integrated with emotional and intellectual characteristics
such as problem solving, patience, perseverance, and courage.
Bouldering
on a traverse wall builds muscular strength, flexibility, coordination
and cardiovascular fitness. By working the entire muscle spectrum,
through multiple gestures instead of one repeated gesture, climbing
builds muscular strength throughout the entire body. Reaching for
handholds and stretching for footholds develops flexibility. Moving
hands and feet simultaneously in different directions develops coordination.
Cardiovascular fitness develops by making longer and faster traverses.
A Traverse Wall®, by Everlast Climbing Industries, continually challenges
students to improve strength, flexibility, and coordination by offering
color-coded routes: green (beginner), yellow (intermediate), and
red (advanced). As students master one color, they progress to the
next color.
A climbing
program also builds life-long wellness by developing characteristics
such as problem solving, goal setting, courage, positive risk taking,
perseverance, will power, patience, and confidence. A student identifies
a bouldering problem, sets a goal, and attempts physical solutions
to the route's challenge. Courage grows by succeeding at positive
risks. Perseverance develops as one keeps trying a problem until
one can proceed all the way across the wall. Will power and patience
are necessary to continue towards the goal. Confidence grows with
each successful completion of a challenge.
Lyle
Helke of White Bear Schools uses climbing to build overall wellness
in his nine-week Adventure Learning curriculum. Helke says, "Climbing
is the ultimate metaphor about life... through incremental risk
taking via the various wall 'problems' we learn to ask for help,
develop trust, accept challenge by choice, break through mental,
physical and emotional barriers, and rely on the personal powers
that we summon to meet challenges." Helke emphasizes how the
educational tools one employs impact how a student is influenced,
and climbing influences students on a wide range of levels. Helke
also uses his wall for extracurricular activities such as staff
development, leadership training, and outreach programs for students
at risk. |
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Area
Eight of the Profile of Learning addresses overall wellness through
Health and Physical Education. Section, 3501.0448 Subpart 3.a requires
designing and implementing a health enhancing fitness plan. Students
can establish their initial level of muscular fitness, endurance,
and flexibility by climbing as far as possible along the traverse
wall, which establishes a baseline point. Then students set particular
points as goals and work until they reach their goals. This creates
a natural measurement strategy for student progress. Regarding reasonableness
of maintaining the fitness plan over an extended period, climbing
is ideal because people of all ages enjoy climbing. The Profile
for younger students outlined in Section 3501.0467 stresses working
to improve age appropriate physical fitness and developing motor
skills. Climbing is ideal in both regards because climbing problems
can be designed for students of all ages by using Everlast Climbing
Industries' color-coded routes. First graders can traverse using
all holds: red, yellow, and green. Third and Fourth graders can
climb the green routes, sixth graders can climb the yellow routes,
and eighth graders the red routes. Tenth graders can set their own
routes and start top rope climbing, and seniors can work on belaying
and outdoor climbing which they can enjoy for the rest of their
lives.
We
at Everlast Climbing Industries are committed to climbing as a positive
educational experience for students of all ages. We strive to make
climbing
an activity that provides overall wellness for a lifetime. We are
developing a curriculum for climbing to maximize the influence of
climbing as an educational tool. Students and adults who climb testify
to the life-long benefits of climbing. Climbers talk about how climbing
builds wellness in the triad of body, mind and spirit. In essence,
climbing strengthens the body, challenges the mind and encourages
the spirit.
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