Throughout the year, LHS has implemented many new changes across campus, but recently there has been more discussion about new physical education uniforms and a new class being offered to students.

Senior Lisa Lamb seeks to change what students are required to wear during PE classes at LHS. As a part of the Health and Wellness Committee on the Principal’s Advisory Board, Lamb is working on a project to add options to LHS’s PE uniforms, such as long-sleeve gym shirts and leggings. According to Lamb, they hope that these additions provide students with a wider variety of options to wear as the seasons change.

“We want students to feel comfortable and confident in the clothes they are wearing and just make sure that it’s appropriate for the weather. So just giving people the option so they might be able to stay a little toastier during gym class is ideal,” stated Lamb.

Other than adding new options to the uniforms, the committee’s other goal is to promote the PE uniform options that the school already has. This includes sweatpants, sweatshirts and swim shirts, which are available for purchase on the Webstore and in the Spirit Store.

“We just want to help our students have more options and have a little more fun with their PE uniforms,” said Lamb, who further explained that if the students feel good about what they’re wearing, they’ll be more motivated to participate in class and get active.

By the end of the school year, the Health and Wellness Committee plans on having some prototypes of their new additions out, and they hope to make their additions available for next fall, Lamb said.

Ms. Patti Mascia, the physical welfare department supervisor, stated that her department is supportive of these future changes to the uniform and looks forward to “giving [students] other options when it comes to dressing.”

One definite change in the Physical Welfare Department is the addition of a new class being offered next fall. The class, titled LIFE — Lifelong Integration of Food and Exercise — will teach students the balance between healthy eating and physical exercise.

“We’re trying to build curriculum to give [students] real-life experiences, something that you’re going to see outside of these walls [of LHS],” said Ms. Patti Mascia, the physical welfare department supervisor.

The class is structured so that students will be working out or playing team sports for half of the week, and preparing and learning about healthy post-workout foods for the other half.

While LIFE will count as students’ CTE, Career and Technical Education, credit required for graduation, it does not count as students’ Consumer Management credit, according to Ms. Mascia.

Mrs. Kathryn Gallivan, a foods teacher at LHS, and Mrs. Carrie Keske, a physical education teacher, brought this idea to Libertyville after visiting other schools in the area with similar programs. Inspired by the new blended structure of academic classes already integrated at LHS, LIFE is cross-curricular, meaning it applies knowledge of more than one academic discipline.

“Your diet is 80 percent of how you look and feel. Your sleep is affected by your diet, your overall mood is affected by your diet, your body composition is affected by your diet, but physical exercise is so important also, that’s the [other] 20 percent, and the two work hand in hand,” said Mrs. Gallivan.

Mrs. Gallivan explained that she hopes to instill healthy eating habits in her students because she believes the earlier young people understand the importance of healthy diet and exercise, the better off and more prepared they will be later in life.

“I think any adult would say that they have time for one or the other, but it’s really difficult to have time for both [exercise and healthy eating], and if we can start you guys thinking about the importance of those things, then you’ll be a step ahead of where we were when we [graduated] high school,” said Ms. Mascia.

LIFE is now officially on the list of gym classes available for upcoming juniors and seniors to take for next fall as a semester class.