Warrior Wellness: An inside look at Willowbrook’s dual-credit Fitness & Nutrition class
Willowbrook students are working hard every day to become more educated with their health and wellness, and we are thrilled to showcase those accomplishments through this monthly column.
In this month’s edition of Warrior Wellness, we are proud to showcase our dual-credit Fitness & Nutrition class. Students enrolled in this course can earn their physical education credit at Willowbrook and a physical education credit at College of DuPage. This course combines with the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Department to offer students an opportunity to learn how to improve their overall fitness, and it also places a large emphasis on nutrition.
Students in Fitness & Nutrition learn how to handle, prepare and cook healthy meals as they study each of the essential nutrients. We also focus on ways students can build better fitness habits and routines, while maintaining or improving their overall health levels. The key in this class is guiding students toward a healthier and more active lifestyle. Our intention is that after passing this course, students will have the resources and tools to make their own health-conscious decisions. On the nutrition side, pupils research the effectiveness and side effects of weight loss products and prepare simple, healthy snacks and salads.
This year, students in Fitness & Nutrition also participated in a group fitness competition, in which they assessed their fitness and analyzed their weaknesses. They were placed on a team based on their previous fitness ability. Each team focused on building workouts that would help the members improve. At the conclusion of our school-wide fitness tests, the team with the most improvement in overall scores won. We are proud to recognize 4th-hour students Camryn Witt, Alexandra Tapia, Viviana Rios and Jacqueline Racasi-Aldridge (who are all juniors) as the winners of this year’s fitness competition. Great job to all of our students this year on their fitness results!
Wellness Tip!
Drink caffeinated tea as an afternoon pick-me-up, or decaf tea as a way to wind down at night. There are many health benefits to tea, including lowering blood pressure, reducing wrinkles, aiding in weight loss and more.