Let’s face it! We all had to do it at some point. Gymnastics in P.E. If you are not a natural born gymnast, this can be a daunting week or 2. Recently, I had the 
opportunity to act as a guest P.E. teacher in Waunakee during their gymnastics units. Let me telll you, the moans and groans from the non-gymnasts are still there!
If you are a gymnast, or can do a cartwheel, this is heaven for you! You get to show off to your friends and impress your teachers. It is finally acceptable to go upside-down during the day! You display your upper-boddy strength gymnastics conditions you to have by scaling the rope in record time.
If you are not a gymnast, the agony of throwing your body through space in effort to complete a forward roll seems impossible. And you can forget going backwards! The confusion a cartwheel causes is enough to make your brain hurt.
After helping in a middle school and an elementary school it has been confirmed(if not before) that gymnastics is HARD! But here is what I found…With a willingess to try, a little effort and understanding, students are able to walk away with an improved version of whatever skill they previously had.
I can’t tell you how many boys exclaimed “I DID IT!” after making just a few adjustments to their cartwheels. That statement never gets old. It means that a student came from a place of being unable. But with hard work, determination, a little encouragement and coaching, that student can now consider this improvment an accomplishment! What a great life lesson to carry on to adulthood.
