American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

 Issue: February 2007

Building Camaraderie with Fun, Fitness, and Friendly Competition
Reneé L. Polubinsky & Jennifer M. Plos

Abstract:
Physical education departments are composed of diverse academic disciplines that may include physical education teacher education, exercise science, and athletic training programs. The complexity of each program and its individual demands often cause faculty and students to become disengaged from those outside of their own major and the happenings within a department. To help promote student and faculty engagement across interdepartmental disciplines, a physical education department implemented a departmental fitness challenge to build camaraderie through fun, fitness, and friendly competition. This article provides a template for the development of a fitness challenge, procedures used to engage students in the planning and implementation of an annual fitness challenge, generalized results of a fitness challenge, and tips on making it a successful event.

Article category: Professional Issues