Superhero teachers working hard, working out
Two Mount Albion physical education teachers are getting students and others involved in daily workouts, superhero outfits and all
Between the sedentary seductions of the computer, hooking us to the screen, and the siren call of the scrumptious, mothflaming us to the light in the fridge, many are finding it hard to keep COVID-19 fit.
If it seems to take superhuman discipline to resist, well, Steve Black has the costumes to fit the bill and the workout to drill us fit.
The Mount Albion Public School phys. ed teacher has been at the job long enough — 30-plus years — to know that you can’t build muscle mass watching a weightlifting TED talk.
“I was looking for a way to connect,” says Steve. “You can’t really do phys. ed online.”
So, he’s taking the workout to his students, in real time and real space. And, it turns out, to their parents, siblings and neighbours.
He and fellow Mount Albion phys. ed teacher and athletics director Bob Ellis get on their bicycles and cover the catchment, stopping at different blocks and conducting workouts on the sidewalk and curbside, while the students and others follow them, usually on their lawns.
In every case, at least six feet apart.
It’s been a huge success. Thanks, no doubt and in no small part, to Steve’s tickle trunks, acquired over the years. Known as Mr. Halloween at school for the costumes he dresses in at that time of the school year, Steve has more capes than the eastern seaboard.
So when he and Bob run their itinerary, Steve is all decked out as a superhero. Last week it was Daredevil. This week, a Viking warrior.
Next week? You’ll have to come out and see. And prepare to put in some squats.
“The people have been getting more organized,” says Bob, as they become accustomed to the workout schedule, now going into its third week. “Sometimes we come around a corner on our bikes and there are five or six whole families waiting for us on the lawns.” Children, adults, passersby. Cassandra Rankin, whose children Jayda Lynn, 10, and Xavier, 11, belong to the Mount Albion school community, is thrilled at what the teachers are doing and is out there every Monday with the kids, and others, when Steve and Bob come coasting on to her block.
“The children love it,” she says. “They love the superhero costume. And they love the fun of the workout. Butterfly kicks, squats, crunches.” She gets in on it, too.
Steve says he and Bob run from 15 to 20 workouts a day, five minutes or so each workout. They’re often out there three hours or more a day total, every day.
“We work hard for at least a full five minutes each one,” he explains. “I have a Bluetooth speaker on my bike” and he bellows out the instructions and the reps.
“It’s the basics. Cardio, aerobics, calisthenics, jumping jacks, pushups, ab exercises. It’s a combination of fitness and social contact, at a safe distance.”
Steve says the instructions the teachers have been given are to “use numerous ways to connect with students and deliver instruction,” and he thought this would be a good approach. He also works in other more conventional ways, teaching students online and sending them activities and links around the curriculum and physical fitness. He says his board director and superintendent follow his block-to-block outdoor workouts on Twitter and are supportive. Steve and Bob cover a wide area, the school’s whole catchment from Centennial Parkway, along Highland Road to
Glen Hollow, Paramount and Mud.
Show me a website that does THAT. Super, gentlemen. Just super.