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Multimedia Package Produced by Rebecca Wagner and Brooke Lindstrom - Spring 2015

Workman pushes students to get faster, stronger

(May 22, 2015)

Feature, photos, and video news package produced by Rebecca Wagner and Brooke Lindstrom, junior high journalism students

 

 

 

Silver Lake schools have many teachers who help out with multiple grades. One of these teachers who helps students learn to keep trying is Mark Workman.

Workman is the physical education teacher and the conditioning teacher for the junior high. He has been a teacher at Silver Lake since the early ‘90s. According to Saige Steele, eighth-grader, Workman's classes help students improve their health and their physical ability to play sports. Eighth-Grader Addison Hamilton agreed.

“Workman helps me as well as other students improve our physical ability because the workouts we do in the weight room make us stronger. Being stronger only helps us become faster,” Hamilton said.

Workman teaches seventh and eighth-grade. Teaching junior high, teachers get a new adventure every day.

Workman said that his favorite part about teaching junior high kids is “all of the energy they have.”

Workman has four junior high classes a semester. Every class is very different in many ways, including their personality and physical ability.

“I look forward to all of the students’ different personalities,” Workman said.

To start out this class, Workman sends the class to do a warm up. Some warm ups include doing stretch bands, speed ladders, stairs, running around the gym, or running a couple of laps around the track. After warm ups, the students will normally go play a game.

“My favorite warm up is stairs because they give you a good leg workout,” Ryan Slechta, eighth-grader, said.

Some of the most common games that the students play are capture football, dodgeball, two-ball, or three-line.

Timmy Nesbitt, eighth-grader, said, “My favorite game is capture because I am really good at it and it helps me improve my running.”

Then right after the students are finished playing the game, Workman sends the students to go and lift weights in the weight room.

Some of the most frequent activities that students do in the weight room are bench press, squats, power cleans, and dumbbell exercises.

Workman does not just teach at Silver Lake, but he also helps out with coaching high school football and is head softball coach. 

Workman said, “I enjoy both, softball and football. Both sports have some really nice days and some challenging. Coaching is enjoyable because it is better than not doing anything. Or just sitting on the couch doing nothing,” he said.

 

Cut lines:

(Photo 1) Nathan Wymore, seventh-grader, races to the other side of the mezzanine while playing the game “Capture the Football.” (Photo by Rebecca Wagner)

(Photo 2) Mark Workman, physical education teacher, calls,  “Touchdown!” in the game, “Capture the Football.” (Photo by Rebecca Wagner)

(Photo 3) Mark Workman, head high school softball coach, tells Catcher Madi Wegner the correct signs to translate to the pitcher. (Photo by Saige Steele)