Every day, student athletes wake up exhausted from the previous days activities. It doesn’t matter what sport is involved, athletics are becoming more and more intense and time-consuming. Teenagers barely have the energy to make it through the day and then they realize, I have gym next hour.

Gym is a class that kids must take in order to graduate at Blue Valley. The main purpose is to keep students healthy and active. But what about the teenagers that spend endless hours training and practicing for their sport?

In addition to that, on block days gym students must wear heart rate monitors, and they are forced to get an exact time in their heart rate zone. Athletes that are in excellent shape must sprint the entire hour to stay in the correct zone while others walk and “earn” points for the day.

This does not make sense, considering the students that work hardest in class are the ones who already spend excessive amounts of time exercising.

Student athletes are busy almost always balancing school work and their sport.

Gym class is an unnecessary class for children already spending so much of their free time being active.

It should not be required for students involved with a high school sport.

Students could be using that hour to take a more beneficial class.

Gym could be an optional class for students looking to be healthier, but there is no reason that high school athletes should waste an hour every day doing something they already take part in.