goodbye to P.E. Waive
How to avoid athletics and still meet your credit requirements
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Think back to course selection time. With only two years left of high school, you groaned at the realization that your required one-and-a-half P.E. credits had yet to be completed. So what were your options? Your schedule was already full, and you didn’t know how to fit P.E. in. About 100 Westlake students are using a P.E. waiver for their credit. You’ve heard about it, but it seems so inconvenient. Actually, it is quite easy. At the beginning of the semester, fill out the P.E. waiver request form, which is only two pages. You have to choose which category you fit into. The first category, the Olympic level, allows you to miss one period per day. Students on this plan need at least 15 hours a week of supervised physical activity. Only about 35 students participate in category one. These students are usually tennis players, swimmers or horseback riders. The second category is more commonly used. Students have to stay at school all day, but they only have to complete five hours a week of their activity.
“I really like having a P.E. waiver because it gives me a way to have eight classes a day and still go swimming, which is something I love,” sophomore Geeta Bajaj said. In fairness to the other students, P.E. waivers can only be used during the school year. “We offer summer school, and those people have to pay; it wouldn’t be fair to let people do P.E. waivers [over the summer] for free,” assistant principal Scott Malcolm said. “Also, it’s too hard to keep up with during the summer.” Another thing to consider is the fact that your activity must have an instructor. He or she must write a letter that you attach to your waiver. This letter describes the program and explains how many hours you will be participating. During the semester, you keep track of your hours on a chart, which your instructor must sign. You turn this chart in at the end of the semester. While many students participate in classic sports outside of school, the things that Westlake students do for their P.E. waivers are
surprising. Some participate in rowing, swimming, lacrosse, ice hockey, wakeboarding, martial arts, kickball, bowling, rock climbing, gymnastics, dance or horseback riding. Some kids even complete their credit by working out in a gym with a trainer. “It’s helpful to people like me who do sports not offered at Westlake, such as rowing,” freshman Caroline Allan said. Since lacrosse is a non-sanctioned school sport, boy and girl members get P.E. credit through a waiver, but they do not have to go through the whole process of filling out the application. The P.E. waiver is a useful alternative to P.E. and athletics for students who do not have much room in their schedules. The second category does not take much time out of your schedule, since you can use weekends to complete the necessary five hours. “I think they’re great for kids who don’t have time to participate in our athletic program,” Malcolm said. “They’re for kids who are academically motivated.” —Abby Bost and Julie Dorland
Number of students that are doing: Tennis: 5 Rugby: 2 Working out at gym: 19 Soccer: 1 Bowling: 1 Lacrosse: 2 Swimming: 9 Rowing: 17 Cheer: 1 Volleyball: 2 Wakeboarding: 2
Horseback riding: 9 Dance: 8 Ice hockey: 1 Triathlon: 1 Golf: 3 Martial arts: 6 Cross country: 1 Rock climbing: 1 Yoga: 5 Gymnastics: 1 Kickball: 1
Senior Savannah Ritter sits in the lotus posistion during her yoga class. She practices yoga four to five times every week.
Katherine Finn