Workouts in the auditorium
WJPS's gymnasium has been under construction for a while now due to refurbishing and remodeling reasons. Both I.S.25 and WJPS now has to have PE in either the auditorium or in the school yard, and due to the cold weather, students will be remaining indoors. The teachers have to come up with interesting and engaging activities now and working with whatever they have since their classroom is unavailable. Photo by Faith Chojar.
by Da Hae Jung, news editor
With the gymnasium being under construction and not knowing when the construction will be finished, students are still spending their time in the auditorium or going outside to play sports.
“Most challenging part is the inconsistency of not having the gym. When a normal teacher plans for a class, not only do they have to have a plan A and B, but also D and E. For example, juniors cannot have the auditorium because I.S 25 is there at the same time. So we are then forced to split into two groups: one in the library and the other in a classroom,” physical education teacher Mr. Maroney said.
Due to the cold weather, students will now staying indoors either in classrooms, library, or in the auditorium.
There were some difficulties getting things organized at first because Mr. Maroney and Mr. Angeles had to figure out how give seats to students in the way they did in the gym. At first students did not really understand where their seats were but after a while they were able to get a hang of it.
“Luckily we have students who are participating but we are in a tough situation,” Maroney said.
Without the gymnasium, there are a lot of disadvantages but students are able to go outside, get fresh air, and enjoy the sunny day. When the weather gets cold or it rains, the students stay in the auditorium and enjoy movies.
“We are doing independent sports when we are outside but when the weather is bad, we stay inside and watch a movie and write down what we learned about it,” sixth grader Crystal Ian said.