Physical Education should have electives as it can provide students with a unique opportunity to engage in physical activities, essential for overall health and well-being. By implementing this, the school can help promote physical fitness and encourage students to adopt an active lifestyle, explore their interests, and discover new passions.

Additionally, with the increasing prevalence of sedentary lifestyles and chronic health conditions, it is more important than ever to prioritize physical activity in education. Therefore, applying this as a part of the TCS curriculum is a critical step towards promoting healthy habits, inclusion and improving the overall health and well-being of students.

Allowing students to choose physical education electives that align with their interests and passions can increase their motivation and engagement in physical activity. 

For instance, students who like team sports may enroll in an optional course that focuses on basketball or soccer. Students who like independent activities may enroll in an optional course covering cross-fit or yoga. Students who like being outside can enroll in an elective that focuses on running. Physical education electives would accommodate the different interests and skills of students by offering a range of possibilities, helping them develop a passion for physical activity.

Students can feel a sense of progress and success by taking physical education electives that emphasize skill development, which can further boost their motivation as they feel included.

Once, PE used a method that involved grouping students into different classes based on how well they performed in sports. Several students in the low athletic performance group began to experience negative effects from competing in sports against their more athletic classmates. For instance, many people have talked about how they get entirely unmotivated when this occurs because they feel unworthy, criticized, nervous, and worthless.

Offering a variety of physical education (PE) electives can certainly help break up a monotonous cycle and encourage students to explore and develop a love for different sports and physical activities. 

PE teachers addressed how over the years students are getting tired and unmotivated by the course, it occurs because of repetitiveness. From middle school to high school, each unit consists of playing a different sport. Through the years students have gotten to know themselves, discovering their passions, and weaknesses. Urbano and Chapo believe that this could be solved by giving students a voice and a vote, allowing them to choose the sport that they are passionate about.

When students are motivated and engaged in the physical education elective of their choice, they are more likely to be attentive, focused, and on-task, which can translate into improving their grades on PE classes.

Students today worry a lot about their GPA, and many of them complain about subjects like PE because they fear that receiving bad grades in this type of class can and will hurt their grade point average. Both PE teachers and High School Principal Juan David Lopez have received multiple complaints from students that end up getting a bad grade because of not liking, which means not participating as much in a sport that they feel they aren’t worthy enough.  

When you are engaged in an activity that you are passionate about, you are more likely to give it your all and perform better.

By implementing PE electives at school, students would be playing sports that they like which will transform this course for many students from being obligatory and forced into something that engages students and motivates them. In other words, students wouldn’t focus on playing and participating in class only because of the grade but actually because it is something that they have passion for. 

Physical education electives can help improve students’ overall physical fitness, which can lead to improved academic performance. Physical activity has been shown to enhance cognitive function, concentration, and memory, making it easier for students to focus in their classroom.

Exercise helps psychomotor development which is essential for cognitive development. In order to have high skills in other subjects, students need high cognitive development provided by doing physical activity. With the option of having electives, students will have a higher engagement in sports which will result in improved grades. Even research has shown that regular physical activity can enhance cognitive function, concentration, and memory.

Physical education electives TCS can help to promote inclusivity and ensure that all students have access to the physical activity of their choice.

Schools can accommodate the different interests and skills of children by providing a variety of electives, and they can also guarantee that every student has the chance to engage in physical activity that they are comfortable with. Additionally, it can contribute to the creation of a more inviting and inclusive environment where all students can feel valued and included.

In other classes such as English, Art, Sciences, and Philosophies students have the opportunity to choose what to pursue from the different electives, so students in PE classes should also have this opportunity.

The reality is that TCS offers the opportunity for students to pick what they are most interested in specific subjects. For instance, English classes include 4 different electives (Journalism, Art of fiction, AP Language, and AP literature), and philosophies include 4 (AP psychology, Intro to law, AP human, and philosophy), sciences include 7 options (AP bio, AP Physics 1 and 2, Physics, Anatomy, AP environmental science, and AP computer science), and art includes 5 (Painting, Sculpture, AP 2d art, AP Drawing, and AP art history). It is evident how students have a variety of options to choose from, and they end up picking what they are most passionate about or something that they are good at.  

Physical education electives can help to create a safe and supportive environment, where all students feel valued and included, by pursuing what they love and are good at.

Many students, such as Senior Luciana Alzate, feel that when they play sports they aren’t good at, they end up feeling degraded and shy. On the contrary, when she plays sports that she is good at, she feels like she has a place where she belongs, and she doesn’t feel judged or excluded. By implementing electives in PE, students like Luciana will change their way of seeing and feeling in this course, into somewhere where they feel they belong. 

Even though PE electives can have positive impacts, the repetition of the same sport through a long period of time can lead to boredom and a lack of motivation, which can impact the student’s overall enjoyment and engagement in physical activity. 

Engaging in physical activity that you find enjoyable and satisfying can boost your mood, increase your sense of accomplishment, and give you a sense of purpose. These positive experiences can create a positive feedback loop, where the more you participate in the sport, the more motivated you become. Additionally, when you engage in a sport that you are passionate about, it can provide a sense of belonging and community which can further enhance your motivation and make it less repetitive as it is something that you are passionate about. Overall, participating in a PE elective that you like can create a cycle of positive experiences.