The Adventure Challenge Education (ACE) program in the PE department has a new class coming to North. The ACE program will be expanding next year in response to the many activities included in the class that could not be completed in a single semester.
“The new program is not considered an ‘ACE 2’ but a continuation of the original ACE class,” said teacher Jesse Wolter.
As ACE began as a one semester class last year, the PE teachers are pleasantly surprised to be able to continue it into a year-long course.
“We started it off as a semester long course because we were worried about having enough material to fill a whole year. After one year, we realized that we were running out of time to fit everything in, and students weren’t getting the full experience that was desired. Also the weather is so drastically different both semesters, which also didn’t allow to get everything in for both semesters,” Wolter said.
“There will be some different units and field trips that we have not done in the past, including the challenge piece, where students will work through various team initiatives, and the outdoor education piece.”
Although students in ACE still participate in heart rate every Tuesday and Thursday, not every day is the same agenda. Activities include a variety of outdoor activities such as mountain biking, Frisbee golf, broomball, fire building, cooking outdoors, rollerblading, geocaching, orienteering, belaying, and rock climbing.
“We don’t dress every day because many of the activities we do allow us to participate in our school clothes, and we need the whole period to accomplish our tasks,” said sophomore Molly Rutkowski.
The class is used in hopes of broadening students’ perspectives and showing them the importance of risk taking and teamwork.
“ACE is a class dedicated to pushing kids out of their comfort zones. Because it’s in class, it forces me to try new things every day. It also helps me realize the reasons for many activities I am forced to do in school and at other activities, and I have a newfound appreciation for them,” said sophomore Sarah Rauch.
Approximately 30-40 kids are signed up between the two periods available for the ACE class, and with the extension of the class, Wolter hopes more students will sign up for it and break their comfort zones.
“From what I hear, a lot of kids don’t sign up for it because they don’t know what it is; they don’t know what they are getting themselves into. The unknown is intimidating, and that in itself falls outside most students’ comfort zone. I challenge you to take your first risk by signing up for the course. Something I always preach to my students and something I live by is that if you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not growing,” Wolter said.
Aside from the exciting new class, Grayslake North’s PE program has been ranked 11th in the state for best physical fitness programs.
According to Niche’s website, the ratings are based on survey responses, number of sports, percentage of male and female athletes, and experiences per student
“This ranking is indicative of the fact that our students and community recognize and appreciate our robust sports and fitness programs which offer students many different options to get involved in athletics and physical activity. With over 24 different competitive sports to choose from, in addition to our many clubs and activities, our students can and do become active and involved in their schools,” said director of curriculum and instruction Tracey Landry.