Three years ago, Lauren Mueller was challenged to share one of her passions with her students at Crosstown High School through a hands-on learning class.
Mueller, a writing teacher and coordinator of the school’s APEX program, a space for students to explore interests outside of traditional learning, took the opportunity to bring her love for wellness into the classroom.
Prioritizing her physical and mental well-being, Mueller wanted to share that mindset with her students, so she created a Women’s Wellness class. One day of the week was dedicated to socioemotional health, and two days to movement. On those days, her goal was for the students to try many different movements to help them discover how they like to move their bodies.
“People often say they wouldn’t be good at something or wouldn’t like it, but maybe it’s just because they never tried it,” Mueller says. “Maybe you haven’t felt what you can do.”
She taught students the basics of exercises like weightlifting, high-intensity interval training, Pilates, and yoga. They also got to take field trips to local gyms to dabble in specialty fitness like boxing and self-defense.
Mueller says it’s important for teenagers to get in the habit of doing consistent movement.
“It sets them up for it to be a lifelong habit if they begin to explore it now,” she says. “That’s my biggest hope for them. Because if they could experience what exercise feels like and see what they enjoy now, they can do it for the rest of their lives.”
Throughout the semester, that’s precisely what she noticed — students beginning to embrace movement and making it a habit in their own lives.
She watched students grow comfortable enough to go to the gym independently while other students gained the confidence to try out for a sport. One student, after experiencing the stress-reducing benefits of working out, even started a fitness club for her peers to help squash girl drama.
“It’s really sweet for me as a teacher to have this outlet to share something I love with my students,” Mueller says. “Now I get to watch them latch onto that and find what that means in their own lives.”
As more students want to get involved in movement-based classes, Mueller hopes to match the demand because she believes all students could benefit physically, mentally, and emotionally from more movement.
“There’s something powerful about moving your body,” Mueller says. “Whether going on a walk, lifting weights, or whatever your choice is, movement will always help you feel better. Those endorphins are incredible.”
They also reap social benefits. “Fitness creates community,” Mueller says.
“I see that in the kids I run into at the Y, usually in small groups lifting weights or walking and talking,” she says. “I’ve watched kids from very different racial and economic backgrounds become friends because they like doing Pilates together.”
By Maya Smith
Photo by Tindall Stephens
