For many Florida high schoolers, the Health Opportunities Through Physical Education (HOPE) course is a graduation requirement. At Pine View, it’s no exception. From learning about issues affecting youth and how to deal with them to learning and doing exercises, students benefit from HOPE in many ways. Recently, the online class has undergone some changes.
Matt Mitchell works for Sarasota Virtual Academy (SVA) and has taught HOPE for 18 years on and off. He explains that while the curriculum has not changed much, the way students complete assignments has changed.
“They just make it easier for students to turn work in,” Mitchell said. “They used to have to log their own wellness plans and now they’re using an app called Sworkit, which creates a PDF and submits it for them.”
Previously, students had to film themselves completing workouts and upload videos for grading. Now, they are completed and sent directly through the app. For students like freshman Bianca Grebing, who completed the old version of HOPE, the video submissions were one of the most frustrating parts.
“Filming the videos was always a hassle. It was awkward to send to someone we did not even know, and it was sometimes a hassle to submit. I would always run into some sort of problem when trying to upload the video and submit it for grading,” Grebing said.
Quizzes were Grebing’s favorite part of the course because they were quick and easy to complete. Looking back, she believes the new version will save students time and stress.
“I think it will definitely help future students run into fewer problems and glitches as well as have them finish the course faster,” she said.
Sophia Raicu, a freshman currently enrolled in HOPE, agrees that the course can take a lot of time but is rewarding.
“HOPE really helped keep me [get] active during the summer and made me more aware of my physical health. I also learned a lot about nutrition and how different muscles work, which are things I wouldn’t have learned otherwise,” Raicu said.
However, Raicu still admitted that not everything runs smoothly.
“Some of the workouts were a little confusing to follow,” Raicu said.
While there are still small bugs to fix, Mitchell said he believes the new system will benefit both students and teachers.