Goodbye Mexico, Hello Brazil!

One of the more important aspects of the Global School of Silicon Valley, is its emphasis on infusing a global perspective across the entire curriculum. Never has this interdisciplinary focus been more on display than this past week.

As all of us can remember from our own school days, physical education classes were probably not among our favorites. Whether it be the teacher who simply threw us a couple of balls and said, "go play", or the type of teacher that really believed in teaching lifelong skills; running, jumping, or throwing sometimes seemed a chore, and not often a welcome one at that.

Recognizing that students today may have the same lack of enthusiasm for actually exercising, and also wanting to help fulfill the school's mission of teaching from a global perspective, new GSSV PE teacher, Ben Maxwell has devised a unique and engaging assignment for his students. Designed to make exercise fun, while at the same time focusing their energies elsewhere other than on their actual physical efforts, GSSV students are literally racing around the world . . .

In a nutshell, "Racing Around The World" is a year-long experience, asking students to complete a set number of laps around an improvised track at the school. With each lap the equivalent of 100 miles, students compete by grade level to accumulate miles. Coach Ben has segmented the world into roughly 100 mile increments, with stops and goals for various countries around the world.

For their first stop, students accumulated thirty-two segments for a run to Cancun, Mexico. Originally planned as an exercise that might take several weeks, the students instead completed the entire first segment their first time out. In fact, the enthusiasm among the students was so high, that all grades are already on their way to the next stop: Sao Paulo, Brazil.

It is impossible for me to convey the high levels of enthusiasm and energy the students have for the project. Because the wall charts - beautifully designed by our Art teacher, Jennifer Dickson-Child - marking their progress are outside my office, I can see the joy in their somewhat tired and sweaty faces as they cannot wait to complete their run and observe their progress noted for all to see. Many of them are already mapping out their next steps and pinpointing the countries they hope to visit in the coming weeks.

By combining the need for students to exercise with a new geography lesson each week, Coach Ben has shown that both endeavors can be challenging and fun at the same time. With official Passports stamped after each country's visit, and samples of local foods promised following each segment's completion, experiencing other lands and cultures is also a highlight. Students are so excited about the project that they want to run every day, and the wall charts outside my office are a constant source of study and enjoyment for students, parents, and faculty.

Experts say that learning is often hard work. At Global School, our students are always working hard. Who knew that with a just a little more sweat, discovering the world could be so much fun as well?