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.

8th Grade Community and Service Learning

The week before Thanksgiving break, Ms. Kelly's 8th grade Lifetime Fitness class participated in a Community and Service Learning project.
A youth group called "Armonia," made up of 20 5-12 year old boys and girls, visited ASF's campus to learn some new games taught by the 8th graders. Ms. Zika, the Head Community and Service, arranged for the visit with Armonia. They will be visiting ASF once a month to attend different classes in the middle school.
The 8th grade Lifetime Fitness class was the first class to do this project and did a fantastic job with it. They played age and developmentally appropriate games with them to encourage teamwork and problem solving. Seeing the students interact with the students was amazing because they really got along and had a great time. The 8th graders reflected on the experience after the group left and it was unanimously decided that it was a positive experience that they would love to do again. Thanks to Ms. Zika for organizing the experience, thanks to the 8th grade class for their exceptional work and thanks to Mr. Chenier for snapping some great photos!

8th Grade Practical Field Application

Physical Education teachers, John Powell and Kelly Conron got to accompany the 8th grade on their practical field application to Valle De Bravo the week of October 18-22. Orienteering was the lesson that was covered, which taught students how to read a compass and work in groups to navigate themselves around the new colony of Jamestown. It was truly a wonderful experience to apply physical education to the great outdoors. We are looking forward to the 6th and 7th grade trips next semester.

Wellness Wednesday

The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to "Wellness Wednesday" for the Middle School faculty. Wellness Wednesday is done during our professional development meeting after school. It has given the Middle School teachers a chance to get active, interact with colleagues and set an example for all of our students, as we want them to remain active and well throughout their lifetime. The different sessions that have been offered so far are volleyball, power walk or jog, yoga, juggling, aerobics. This will continue the rest of the year with many more activities to come. Thanks to everyone for their participation.

Personal Fitness Assessments

Students began the year in each Physical Education class with a fitness test which included a 12 minute run, push ups, sit ups, sit and reach, and calculation of their body mass index. Students then set realistic, specific goals for themselves to work hard to achieve an even better level of fitness by the end of the semester.

Congratulation to all M.S. Runners

Congratulations to all Middle School students for accomplishing the four week running training during P.E. class, and an applause to all those (faculty, students, parents and siblings) who participated in the first 5/10K ASF race October 24th. Your hard work certainly paid off. You made us all very proud!