At RHS all students have the opportunity to play in the gym during their lunch shift, otherwise known as open gym, which is the brainchild of physical education teachers, Amber Laggis and Jim Moore.  

Moore credits Laggis for initiating the conversation about open gym and putting together the guidelines and rules.

Everyone is invited to participate in open gym, but Laggis says that most are already active individuals.

“Most who are in open gym are active, Maybe if they have no sport or P.E. classes [it helps]” said Laggis.

Mr Moore believes that in order to get more active that we would need “Year round P.E. like the middle school. [people should] Come down to the fitness center, pools’ open on sundays.”  

Open gym is new to this year, and in the half year it’s been here it’s already been expanded greatly and is open every day during every lunch period, but Moore believes it should be expanded more, Mr. Moore said that he “Wants Unlimited Phy. Ed budget P.E storage. They know there is benefits to it have more buy in.”

But what do the people who actually use open gym think of the open gym program? Student Shane Elmergreen, who uses the open gym almost daily, has a lot to say.  “It’s fun, i enjoy being able to be active, helps me get out some of the energy and it gives you something to do during lunch.”

If you aren’t a regular user of the open gym, you might not know what is all in there to do, Elmergreen says “[There is] Basketball obviously,  some people do volleyball, also there’s footballs, which is mostly what I see people do in there, the majority is basketball.I mostly just shoot hoops.  Well, one thing that, [is a problem] they put up some of the hoops which causes it to get crowded, and they should put out more basketballs for people to use”

Elmergreen adds “I think open gym was a good decision they should keep open and i think it should stay open every day of the week.”  

The open gym experiment seems to be a success with the athletic students, and the gym teachers, those who participate in the program believe it to be a positive thing,  The gym teachers don’t believe it interests students who are normally inactive, but it’s getting the kids who are active, even more opportunity to be active.