Keeping Calhoun High School students active for life

Calhoun High School senior Bridget Rossi of North Merrick had never ridden a bicycle until this year. “I had never given it a chance as a young child,” the 17-year-old said.

Then she took a specialized phys. ed. class at Calhoun High School, Fit for Life, taught by James Raucci, who is now in his 13th year at Calhoun.

Fit for Life teaches students about any number of sports and activities that they can play and participate in throughout their lives, even into old age. It begins with bicycling before moving on to zumba, pilates, dance, walking, tennis, even rock climbing. The class also reviews proper nutrition.

Students play a hand in designing the curriculum. If there’s a sport that they want to try, and it’s an activity that can provide lifetime enjoyment while enhancing fitness, Raucci includes it in the curriculum. At the same time, if there’s an activity that the students don’t want to try, he excludes it. This year, running is out.

Rossi said she now loves to bicycle. She rides an adult tricycle, while her classmates ride bicycles. She said she’s working her way up to a bicycle. She’s slowly getting the hang of balancing herself while pedaling. “I very much enjoy it,” she said of bicycling.

And, Rossi said, she loves Fit for Life. “I like the fact that it’s different,” she said. “We don’t do vigorous exercises. It’s something you can go at your own pace.”

Classmate Molly Vizoso, 17, of Merrick, agreed. “I love the class,” she said. “I love that it pertains to your everyday life. It’s things you wouldn’t do on a regular basis.”

Vizoso said she particularly enjoys bicycling and was thrilled when the class took a field trip to the Wantagh Parkway bike trail last Friday, starting at Cedar Creek Park and heading south toward Jones Beach for a leisurely 45-minute ride. “The bike trail, I could do that every day,” she said.

Izzy Powell, 17, of Merrick, said she likes that the class is small and intimate. “It’s not as awkward as a really big gym class,” she said.

The idea behind the class, Raucci said, is to keep students interested in physical activity long after high school. Only 3 to 10 percent of all high school athletes go on to compete at the college level, depending on the sport, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Raucci said he hopes that students will keep moving after high school graduation if they are exposed to an array of “practical, lifetime fitness activities.”