Warrior Wellness: Willowbrook Physical Education Department shares an inside look at Leadership Training class

Welcome to the February edition of the Warrior Wellness column! This month we will take an inside look at one of our class options for juniors, called Leadership Training.

Leadership Training is a yearlong class offered to juniors only. Students are recommended by their previous Physical Education teachers as pupils who have demonstrated the ability to work hard and help others, while also enjoying participating in physical education and fitness activities. Leadership Training participants spend the year learning how to fitness test other students using the FitnessGram test (read more at https://tinyurl.com/yarfaj88), as well as other fitness concepts that are taught to our younger students.

As pictured above, students in this class also spend time in cooperative games, team-building activities and lead pre-class warmups every day. One of the highlights for those selected for this class is the opportunity to work with another leader-in-training and develop a lesson they teach to the rest of the class. Participants bring their athletic and fitness experiences to the table and share their passion and knowledge with the rest of the class and expose their peers to activities they might have never experienced before! We’ve had our Pom Pon Team athletes teach kickline and dance steps one day, and our Basketball Team athletes teach proper shooting form and drills the next day. It really is an exciting class.

As seniors, Leadership Training students have the opportunity to be assigned as Physical Education Leaders and work primarily with our freshmen and sophomore classes. They put their developed leadership skills to work and assist Physical Education teachers in teaching and training their younger peers and serve as role models.

Second semester is going quickly – not just for the Leadership Training students, but for all juniors, as they were trained in administering CPR (as pictured above) and using an AED. Juniors spent the first week of the semester refreshing skills that were first presented to them when they were freshmen. Students also were trained how to use Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to improve their ability to respond in the event of a cardiac emergency.

Be sure to check back for our next column, which will run in the District 88 Newsletter on March 1. Stay warm and healthy, and thanks – as always – for reading!

With Warrior Pride,
Michael Haussmann
Willowbrook Physical Education, Health and Driver Education Department Head