Words and Light

Last week, I went to Dallastown Area Intermediate School, where one rotating unit of the gym class features Wii games and HOPSports videos.

As a survivor of gym classes where I endured playing endless volleyball drills, running countless laps and embarrassing myself in tennis and badminton, I can now appreciate my coaches’ efforts to introduce us to various sports and means of athleticism. I can also see the appeal of bringing wired technology into gym class — especially if it helps kids like Quinten.

© 2011 by The York Dispatch. Dallastown Area Intermediate fourth grade student Quinten Redelberger, of Dallastown, plays Wii bowling against fifth grade students Austin Wildasin of York Township and Mia Rexroth of Red Lion at school on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011. The school received funding via a state grant to install Wii and other interactive fitness technologies for use during students' physical education classes. Redelberger, who has scoliosis, said he feels motivated to exercise using the Wii program because it helps him forget his pain.

Please be sure to check out the video I shot and edited, too, as it features an interview with and more information from one of the coaches.

(And special, special thanks to Jeff for buying me Final Cut Express. After using another video-editing program, using FCE for this project was a godsend.)