Media Minute – Fitness
Physical education and fitness are a part of every student’s experience at TSBVI. This Media Minute highlights instruction in Comprehensive and Short-Term Programs, showing how Wildcats embrace exercise and strengthen their physical well-being! It also features past trainings and podcasts produced by the Outreach Department as well as articles written by TSBVI staff in the Texas SenseAbilities Newsletter.
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A student utilizes his cane to navigate as pilot while on a recumbent bike ride around campus with a peer. -
A student reaches to the top of the rock wall at the Rec and looks over to give a celebratory thumbs up! -
Students and staff from the Recreation Department at Quarry Lake in North Austin during Stand Up Paddling. -
Students, staff, and community members of Social Cycling Austin on the "Lend Your Legs" 8-mile ride through residential neighborhoods
Evenings are active at TSBVI! The Recreation Department offers activities including hockey, soccer, dances, rock wall climbing, weekly tandem biking with volunteers from the community, and stand-up paddling on the lake.
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During yoga on the dorm a student touches a peer tenderly on the head. -
A swim and a splash at the natatorium in the evening! -
Two friends ride a side by side recumbent bike after school. -
A residential instructor and students in the EXIT program play bocce in the park. -
Students in the Venture Crew walk down the ramp into the entrance of Inner Space Cavern on a field trip.
The Residential Department utilizes all the offerings of the Rec as well as yoga, swimming, and regular visits to the weight room and gymnasiums on campus. Venture Crew is an outdoor recreational and community service-based club for students in the TSBVI EXIT program who participate in a variety of volunteer opportunities and outdoor recreation activities.
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A student races on the track while his Coach shadows him during SCASB 2023 in Austin. -
Students on the Wrestling team practice before the SCASB competition in Alabama. -
The Goalball team talks on the court between plays during the USABA Southeast Regional Goalball Tournament in Georgia. -
The TSBVI Cheer Team practices during the 2020 SCASB competition. -
TSBVI Goalball player serves the ball during the USABA Southeast Regional Goalball Tournament in Georgia.
The Athletics Department gives students an opportunity to try a variety of sports in a safe learning environment including goalball, track, wrestling, cheer, swimming, and tennis. Select TSBVI students compete against students from other schools in the South Central Association of Schools for the Blind (SCASB) wrestling, cheer, and track and field competitions, in the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) High School Goalball National tournaments, and in UIL contests.
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A PE coach helps students play frisbee in the gym. -
A student examines the score board on the screen during bowling in PE. -
A student and his PE coach sit in the gym on a scooter under a net decorated with Halloween hanging ghosts and webs. -
A stretching picture symbol and American Sign Language calendar used during PE. -
Students smile riding the gondola to the top of the mountain during the ski trip to Arapahoe Basin Colorado. -
Students and staff hula hoop during the Jump for Heart event in the gym.
The TSBVI Physical Education Coaches instill a love of movement and fitness in all students. In instructional P.E. classes students learn games and athletic skills. Students bowl, swim, and participate in obstacle courses that get especially spooky with fun sensory additions around Halloween time! Select students go on ski trips to Colorado. TSBVI hosts annual fitness events such as Special Olympics, Jump Rope for Heart, the Jingle Bell Run, and the 1K Duo Dash. For nearly the past decade we have had a partnership with the Girls’ School of Austin (GSA). GSA students, accompanied by their Coach Jenny Sparks, join P.E. classes with TSBVI elementary students. The TSBVI and GSA students also go on field trips together and engage in Service Learning projects such as donating print and braille books to the local Children’s Hospital and creating gift packets for children who are refugees. Coach Jenny wrote about the collaboration in a post on the GSA website.
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TSBVI students and students from the Girls' School of Austin at the start line of the 2018 Duo Dash 1K race. -
A TSBVI student and PE Coach lead the Girls' School of Austin during stretching routines in the combined PE class. -
Students from TSBVI and the Girls' School of Austin play goalball together in PE class. -
TSBVI students and peers from The Girls’ School of Austin sit in a circle with feet touching on the floor of the Big Gym rolling a ball between them.
Short-Term Programs (STP) incorporates fitness in their school year and summer programs through regular yoga practices, P.E. classes, and activities with the Recreation Department. Students roller skate, bowl, and play games at community youth entertainment venues. They hike, camp, engage in ropes courses, and learn formal dance moves prior to attending the Prom. Previous STP classes included Camp Challenge and P.E. for State Board of Education credit.
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Students play with scarves during Elementary Summer Enrichment PE class. -
Staff demonstrates sphinx pose to elementary students on their yoga mats in the gym during a Short Term Programs class. -
A student bowls during Summer Programs Practical Experiences in Expanded Core (PEEC). -
A student explores the limestone rocky path on a hike during Summer Programs P.E. for State Board of Education credit. -
Short Term Programs staff and students practice dance moves during the High School Independence Weekend Formal Dance class. -
Students in SBOE for credit stretch as a group in the weight room.
The TSBVI Outreach Department regularly spotlights fitness and physical education in their statewide training opportunities. Search the “recreation and leisure” filter in the Outreach Professional Development Library on the TSBVI website to access webinars on topics such as physical education at home for students with visual impairment, inclusion for students with visual impairment in P.E, and using play and recreation for concept development from preschool to graduation and beyond. The Sense of Texas Podcast has covered goalball, and SCASB and the Texas SenseAbilities Newsletter has articles about the TSBVI Blind Tennis program, the Dragon Boat team, and wearable technology. In the Spring of 2022, Gracyn Freiling, a Journalism Student at The University of Texas at Austin, made a short documentary about Goalball featuring the TSBVI program. Watch her audio-described and close-captioned video “Play It By Ear”.
Students in the EXIT Program have fun playing hockey at the Rec in the evening.
Learning football plays during P.E.