As a part of the FitnessGram program, students are not compared to national norms. Instead, they are evaluated on their own personal data and their performance on fitness-based tests. Students received a printed report that graphed their results and examined the five components of fitness: flexibility, aerobic capacity, body composition, muscle strength, and muscle endurance. The report also gave information about how a student can maintain or improve their personal fitness level.

Most of the testing took place in IHA’s Vincent Herold Fitness Center, enabling teachers to evaluate a small group of students while the rest of the class was actively participating in a personal workout. Physical education teachers, Ms. Jennifer Bednarek, Miss Danielle Just’05, Ms. Shemayne Williams, and Mrs. Terry Skjold, were able to administer FitnessGram to every student who could actively participate in physical education class.

The technical expertise of Mr. George Hotz, IHA’s manager of technology resources, and Mrs. Stephanie Abdallah Brodeur’99, assistant principal – academics/technology, played a large part of the inaugural year’s success. Next year, most beneficial of all, students will be able to compare their results to the previous year. IHA is excited to instill a tool that reflects the IHA mission statement, helping to prepare an IHA student for life in the 21st century.