Some students at Greeley West are experiencing a brand new science class for the 2023-24 school year. It’s called Sports and Exercise Health Science and it’s taught by Mr. Ryan Pace.
If this year’s trial goes to plan, the course will be offered to all students next year under the IB curriculum. Last year Pace hand-selected senior-year students who excelled in previous science classes and invited them to take on a trial basis.
The course takes a deep dive into the health of athletes to try and figure out what leads to the success of athletes, not just physically, but mentally too.
Senior Davanee McKinney, who has been participating in sports all her life, was one of the students who was chosen to have the option to take the new course. McKinney explained what the class has taught her, and is going to teach her in the future. “ You learn about nutrition, and how to prepare for game days. You also learn how to better your bodies, and yourself to get better,” McKinney said.
Greeley West offers a wide variety of different science classes, so how exactly does Sports and Exercise Health Science stand out from the rest of the classes?
Senior Joel Soto, who is in the class, explained the the differences between the new course and previous science classes he had taken such as Human Anatomy. “We are actually taking what we learn into practice,” Soto said. “We are actually getting hands-on experiences, just not taking notes.”
Pace has huge dreams for what this class could become. He explained, “In the long run, I want to connect the athletics to our classroom. Ms. (Jennifer) Gudhal does an amazing job with the weight training, Mr. (Tony) Scott with the anatomy, and the idea was to add an IB section so that we could kind of connect it together.”
Pace and the whole science crew hope that this course blossoms into the course they know it can become, so that students of Greeley West can learn what exactly fuels an athlete to be so good at what they do.
