6th Grade Exploratory Aquatics Class

As well as practicing the stroke techniques of swimming and building on confidence in the water, pupils have also been learning about hazards and life saving. When the class discussed the subject I was amazed by how many pupils had been involved in, or knew someone who had been involved in, a rescue operation in the water. We discussed the importance of being confident in the water as most families in Mexico will travel to the beach for holidays or have a swimming pool in their hotel when they travel.
Pupils were also very astute in realizing the potential risks of being a rescuer and the limitation of what a child can do to help without formal lifeguard training. It was good to see the pupils act with maturity and confidence when practicing the two basic forms of rescuing-throwing an object and reaching with an object.
Hopefully our students will never need to use these techniques in a real life situation, but some pupils showed a real interest in the subject and will hopefully pursue a formal qualification in the years to come.

7th Grade Camp P.E. Obstacle Course

Mexico Verde in Veracruz, was an incredible way to implement Adventure Team Building games in the P.E. curriculum. 7th grade students made 2 teams and challenged each other to an obstacle course. There were 7 different obstacles that they had to tackle. Each one took the entire team to be successful. A policy of "challenge by choice," was in effect, which meant that if students did not feel comfortable doing a certain challenge they did not have to, but they still had a supporting role in their group. The motivation, encouragement, risk taking and effort was extraordinary on each team. Some of the highlights of the obstacle course were a rope pyramid, a rope swing across a pool of water, and a ladder to climb over and under each rung. Great job by all!

6 Exploratory Dance Class (Espin)

Students in Coach L. Espin's 1A class Exploratory Dance Unit are encouraged to participate and create a dance that will allow them to develop rhythm, creativity, to improve coordination, as well social skills.
This video shows a partners mirror dance, and a group line dance. As part of the social interaction, the students, after their dance class presentation split into small groups to peer-coach their dance to the class. This is a great experience for them.

Miss Velez's 6th grade Exploratory Dance Class

Students in my Exploratory Dance Class are doing a great job. They're not only learning and creating their own dance routines, but also learning about different types of dances they are interested in. They are doing this by researching and creating a time line and presenting it to the rest of the class. I'm sharing this video so you can see the great work they are doing in this class.

WELCOME Mr. Matthew MacInnes

My name is Matthew MacInnes and I am the new Middle School P.E. teacher and Head of Soccer for The American School Foundation. I am from Inverness in Scotland, the city where the Loch Ness Monster Lives! After studying at the University of Edinburgh, I taught in Edinburgh for two year and then moved to Malaysia to teach in an international school. I am excited about teaching and living in Mexico. I am looking forward to bringing my experiences to the school's soccer program and working with the players and coaches at ASF. As a child, I played in the Youth Academy of Scottish Premier League club Inverness CT from the ages of 6 to 16. Having missed out on a professional contract at 16, I went into coaching and worked for Hibernian FC for 5 years before leaving the UK. During my time at Hibernian, I coached many players who have gone on to play professional soccer, including Steven Fletcher of EPL club Wolves.

RUN USA!

Students in Coach Powell’s 1A class are participating in a Walk/Jog Unit for Cycle 3 Physical Education. The class of fourteen 6^th grade girls is completing the task of Run USA, which is implemented from the SPARK Curriculum. There were three courses the class voted on to walk and the Disney Route was the unanimous choice. The mission is to add up all the laps or “miles” around the track that are walked throughout the unit to get from Disneyland (Los Angles, CA) to Disneyworld (Orlando, FL). To keep the unit realistic, a single lap around the track is counted as two miles. Each student’s mileage is recorded after each class and counts towards the class goal of walking to Disneyworld!

Welcome Physical Education Student Teachers

Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania has been sending students teachers to The American School since 1993. There are 4 Physical Education majors who have joined the Physical Education Department this January and February. We would like to welcome and introduce Ms. Erin Kosko and Ms. Kirsten Wilson to the Middle School Physical Education Department and The ASF Community.