gym class hero

Owatonna gym teacher Tim Hunst adapts to COVID-19

By lUCaS SeeHaFeR lucas.seehafer@apgsomn.com

not even 24 years of experience in the classroom was enough to prepare Owatonna Middle School physical education teacher tim Hunst for the massive changes that came with the COViD-19 pandemic.

Hunst has been a teacher within the Owatonna school district for 21 years, the past 11 of which have come at the junior high and middle school levels. With that amount of experience comes a comfortable routine and a set expectation of how things are supposed to go. Wake up, teach a unit on basketball, discuss the importance of physi-

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owatonna Middle School gym teach tim hunst (right) guides his students on a fat tire biking adventure. use of the bikes has become a priority for hunst as he adapts his gym classes in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy of Julie Sullivan)

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cal activity for one’s health, coach a hockey practice, go home, go to bed. COViD-19 and the ensuing move to the online classroom drove that routine into chaos. it is human nature to seek out comfort and potential solutions from others when such chaos inflicts the multitudes simultaneously, and america’s gym teachers are no exception, according to Hunst.

“there were ideas flying everywhere. Obviously, within social media groups — teacher social media groups — and stuff like that. People [were] throwing a lot of ideas out for people to try.” the remainder of the 2019-20 school year functioned as a trial-anderror period for Hunst and his gym classes, where the main goal was simply to trudge forward. With the arrival of summer came a time for critical reflection and a significant amount of planning for the upcoming school year.

“the big thing for us was just figuring out how to make [the various gym classes] work and how to make it worthwhile if we’re going to do it,” Hunst said after hockey practice on a mild Wednesday evening in February. in addition to teaching he serves as the head coach for Owatonna’s junior varsity team and is an assistant for the varsity team that has taken the Big 9 Conference by storm. “[W]e tried some stuff last year and it just really wasn’t what we wanted it to be, where basically we were having people just kind of ‘Hey, tell us what you did.’ that was a tougher piece. We started doing live google Meets and we’d be running workouts during that.”

Part of the process of improving the gym class experience — not only for the students, but also for the teacher educating and grading the

tiM HUnSt aS FatHeR anD COaCH

In addition to teaching physical education, Tim Hunst has coached girls hockey at the varsity and junior varsity level for nearly two decades. He is currently the head coach for Owatonna’s junior varsity team and an assistant for the varsity, where his daughters Sydney, a senior, and Lilly, a freshman, are key contributors. The Huskies are 11-1 overall as of press time and are outscoring their opponents 83-12. Sydney is fifth on the team in points with 22 while Lilly comes in eighth with 12. Hunst often leads elements of varsity practice and loves coaching his daughters.

owatonna Middle School gym teacher tim hunst (right) shows a student how to ride a fat tire bike. use of the bikes has become a priority for hunst as he adjusts his classes in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy of Julie Sullivan)

students — included incorporating gPS applications such as Strava and Map My Ride. these apps were able to track the students and provide data such as distance traveled, total exercise time, and energy expended, which provided objective data Hunst could analyze and incorporate into his classes.

“[B]asically, ‘Show me where you went and how long it took you.’ then we could basically be doing virtual hikes together. We tried to use that time to say, ‘this is when you would be getting active, this is what you would be doing.’ So, we just did it virtually.”

Changes of such significance aren’t always met with enthusiasm by children, their parents, or school administration. However, according to Hunst, the buy-in has been great by all parties involved, even from those within the community.

“We’re really fortunate that [Owatonna Middle School Principal Julie Sullivan] has given us a ton of support for P.e. With that, we’ve got freedom and with freedom comes responsibility. We have a lot to live up to, her expectations are

very high for what we’re doing, and we feel like we’re doing everything we can to meet and hopefully exceed those expectations. Just trying to get creative with the lessons to try and make it so that it is worthwhile. Otherwise you don’t get any buy-in at all.” the return to in-person lessons following winter break — along with spiking cases of COViD-19 both in the area and around the state — brought with it a renewed desire to execute gym classes in a way that was engaging, but still safe. By-and-large this meant conduct-

ing classes outside, but as Minnesota residents are aware, Mother nature often has ideas of her own.

“now that we’re back, the biggest thing for us was getting outside. the polar vortex was not kind, so we ended up doing more inside stuff than we wanted

“the big thing for us was just figuring out how to make [the various gym classes] work and how to make it worthwhile if we’re going to do it.”

- tim hunst

to do,” Hunst said. the bitter cold temperatures that were present during the first two-thirds of February forced gym classes to take place indoors. Hunst channeled the kids’ energy on bicycle maintenance and repair as he teaches an elective biking class once the weather begins to warm. and as the temperature rose in the latter moments of February, gym classes were able to return to the great outdoors and reap the benefit of their hard work on the bikes. a good portion of the bikes the kids worked on were so-called “fat bikes,” which possess thicker inner tubes on their wheels specifically designed for traversing snow and other rustic environments. With some help from the city Parks and Recreation Department, the kids were able to ride the bikes near the school.

“Park and Rec has been fantastic. We have tremendous support, not just our administration, not just the school district, but we have great community support. [Parks Manager] Jesse Wilker will come over and pack the trails for us out there. We have our own course at the middle school that’s been packed down for us. even the general physical education kids had the opportunity to do that.” the temptation for many may be to “return to normal” once the pandemic has finally run its course. and while that transition will undoubtedly occur over time and in all areas of life, Hunst believes that some of the changes that were adopted in response to COViD-19 are here to stay, not only with his gym classes, but in teaching in general.

“i think that you have to evolve. i think we’ve seen some things that work and obviously some things that don’t. But being able to access what we’re doing with technology, having the ability to connect with the kids through the google classroom, and being able to post stuff out there for them to do has been big.”

Virtual classroom sessions on Wednesdays are likely to extend beyond the winter months and with that Hunst will continue to hold voluntary gym classes in the park. He and school administration have found that empowering the kids with the ability to choose for themselves whether or not to participate has been beneficial in running a successful gym class.

“[J]ust an opportunity for kids to choose to do the physical activity with us, we felt like that was probably something that’s been really beneficial; something we didn’t have before and obviously going for hikes and snowshoeing and stuff like that is a great opportunity to create great relationships. and for us in the middle school, it’s relationships, relationships, relationships.” as in middle school, as in life. the COViD-19 pandemic has forced a lot of change in the world, and middle school gym classes in southern Minnesota were not and will continue to not be immune. Still, tim Hunst was able to remain focused on the children and providing them with not only a quality education, but also growing their relationships, with each other and with him.

“i think that you have to evolve. i think we’ve seen some things that work and obviously some things that don’t. But being able to access what we’re doing with technology, having the ability to connect with the kids through the google classroom, and being able to post stuff out there for them to do has been big.”

- tim hunst

Reach Regional Sports Editor Lucas Seehafer at 507-444-2375. © Copyright 2021 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.