Page 11 - FIS World

can maintain and improve his/her health – and enjoy themselves in the process.”
Mr. Manntz places Fitness Center users into three main groups: students in scheduled physical education (PE) classes; FIS faculty, sta and students; and members of
the wider FIS Community. He has helped create a detailed schedule for every day of the week to ensure maximum use without overcrowding. Mr. Manntz said he discourages groups from overlapping to avoid more than 50 persons in the Fitness Center at one time.
The bulk of activity that takes place within the Fitness Center revolves around students. During the school day, many Grade 9 and 10 PE classes occur within the space, and Grade 11 and 12 students are able to use the Fitness Center as desired. Starting this semester, Grade 8 students are beginning to use the Fitness Room, too, through a REAL After School Activities course led by Mr. Manntz.
Scott Bain, Physical
Education Department
head and Sports
Science teacher, also
o ers an “Athlete
Academy” to three
di erent groups of
students. The most
advanced group, Year
2 Academy, is
composed of older and
more experienced student athletes who are recommended to the program and then must apply. This group typically meets twice a week at 7:00 where Mr. Bain works with them “...to develop well-rounded, informed and committed athletes, who understand and take responsibility for their own training and performance.” Student athlete and former Captain of the FIS Track & Field team, Cyril, is in the Year 2 Athlete Academy and is clearly committed to excellence. “The Athlete Academy
gets you from normal tness to excellence,” he said. “I take this performance improvement class to close the margin with the competition.”
Every member of the community who leverages the Fitness Center receives professional guidance and supervision from a Physical Education teacher and a formal orientation from Mr. Manntz who emphasized that he is enthusiastic to work one-on-one with any person to optimize his/her workouts. FIS parent Kerstin Zimmermann was encouraged by her doctor to workout to alleviate back pain. According to Ms. Zimmermann, “Sebastian designed a custom workout routine for me, and now I am doing much better.”
The movie Field of Dreams is a powerful example of where sports and fantasy can be combined, and the FIS Fitness Center certainly provides users an opportunity to fantasize. Its super-high-tech Life Fitness cross trainers and treadmills have virtual hiking, running and biking tours through locations including Paris, Provence, New Zealand and Yosemite National Park in the USA.
What isn’t fantasy are the statistics these high- tech machines share. Since March 2016, the Fitness Center’s four treadmills have been used
for 2,290 hours for a distance of 18,018 km; its two cross trainers have been used for 1,200
hours for a total of 10,155 km; and its three bikes have been used 1,150 hours for a whopping
total of 23,829 km – a combined distance greater than the circumference of the earth.
According to Mr. Manntz, the Fitness Center has a total of 3,157 kg in weights (6,959
pounds). That heavy load, state-of-the-art equipment, and the 300 m2 of space mean
there are plenty of weights, equipment and space for more members of the FIS
community to take advantage of this healthy resource.
Emmett Kelly FIS Parent
Grade 11 student Carter lifts some of the center’s 3,157 kg during the Athlete Academy
October 2017 FIS World 9