Fitness Strategies U of A Visit

On Monday October 12th, Alta Vista's Fitness Strategies and Physical Education classes took a trip to the University of Arizona to tour the Athletic/Strength and Conditioning facilities.

Our tour guides, Connor and Colin, were very gracious and informative in allowing us to see the in's and out's of McKale Center, the Jim Click Hall of Champions, and the Strength Complex. It is quite impressive what is inside the facility.

Our students were also impressed and ended up asking many great questions regarding college and the whole college experience.

Thanks go out to Ms. Alvarez for allowing us to take this tour, Ray for getting us there safe, and to Connor and Colin for a great tour!

Fire Up and Bear Down!

Speed Training Lobo Style Fitness Strategies 10/6/09

Enjoy our second video. This is an example of our speed work out that we did twice a week for 10 weeks. We are faster and more agile as a result of our training methods.
It's great for a sweat too!
My student's 40 yard dash times were significantly faster as a result of the workouts.

I want to thank Alta Vista High School for this incredible opportunity to really be creative in my practice. Thank you to the Kino Center for the use of their beautiful facilities. I also want to give a tremendous thank you to my students for buying into the training methods and working hard everyday. They have met most of their goals in 10 weeks. Finally, a big thank you to our driver, Ray, who gets us to class safe everyday. Thanks Ray!

Looking forward to posting more videos of the class in Block 2.

Fire Up!

Final Exam Week October 5-8

Greetings Lobos!
As we finish our 9th week we have a few reminders for everyone.

First: Spirit Week has been fantastic!
Monday: Mismatch Day
Tuesday: Breast Cancer Awareness Day (Wear Pink)
Wednesday: Tie Day
Thursday: Super Hero Day
Friday: Class Color Day + Spirit Assembly!
Continue to show your Lobo Pride by dressing up according to the daily theme.

Second: Final Exams begin next week!
We will be reviewing the semester's information and practicing on Monday and Tuesday of next week.
We will begin our final exam (100 questions) on Wednesday. We will finish on Thursday along with finalizing our grades. There is no school on Friday (School Grading Day).

My advice to Lobo Students is:

Continue to be here everyday.
Continue to turn in your work on time.
Continue to strive for excellence.

Let's finish the block strong together!

Mr. Rodriguez

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!! LOBO SOCCER (Futbol) WINS!

Congratulations to the Lobo Soccer team for their 7-0 win over Academy of Tucson.

Great Job Coach Harrison and the Lobo Players!

We are all proud of you!

Go Lobos!

Looking at the Future Quick Write American History 9/23/09

Yesterday we took time to look into the future. The students were challenged to look at themselves in the mirror and say what they want to do with their life.

'If there were no restrictions put on you, what job/work/carreer would you pursue?'

The students were to list 5 'dream' jobs they would pursue.

The students then turned to a neighbor and shared their list before sharing selections of their list with the group.

My Dream 5 were:

1. Teach/Coach Oceanside, CA

2. Coach College Football

3. Be a roadie for Motley Crue

4. Work on the beach

5. Own/run a silkscreening business



Some of the student's responses were:

Professional piano player, own a music label, CEO of a fashion line, broadcasting engineer, be a Marine, chef, jet pilot, own a shoe company (skateboard), animator, pro soccer athlete, doctor, pro baseball player, CSI, Sniper, Video Game programmer, movie director, automotive design engineer, author.



The second half of the question was: What happens if your 'dream' job doesn't materialize? What is the back up plan?

This line of questioning made students realize that they must always have a back up plan while pursuing their 'dream'.

My back up/fall back plan to my dream 5 was

1. Teach/Coach in Tucson, AZ. (I already taught and coached in Oceanside for 8 years).

2. Coach Junior College football in Tucson.

3. Be a roadie for a Motley Crue tribute band (sometimes the tribute bands are better than the real thing!)

4. Visit the beach as often as possible.

5. Lean the silkscreen business during the off season.



The student's responses were as follows:

Nurse, Police officer, real estate agent, math teacher, join the armed forces, photo journalist, baseball coach, lawyer, go to college, mechanic school, graphic designer, Chef, probation officer, construction and excavating, firefighter, editor of a fashion magazine, animal care taker, dental assistant, radiologist, interior designer, cosmetologist, soccer coach.



Our students are as talented as any around. They sometimes don't realize just how talented they are. They are universally thankful for Alta Vista High School and the support they receive on a daily basis.

I'm thankful for having great students who work very hard for me daily.

Go Lobos!

Mr. Rodriguez

Joker's Wild Workout Fitness Strategies 9/24/09

As we come to the end of our 8th week, we continue to find new ways to keep our workouts fresh.

Today we did what we describe as 'Joker's Wild'. We have a deck of cards that represent the possibility of 54 separate excercises (52 cards + 2 jokers).

Each card is given a value:

Joker = 50 repetitions, Aces = 30 repetitions, Face Cards = 20 repetitions, 10 Cards = 10 repetitions, and number cards = face value of the number.

Today we completed 20 separate movements for a total of 237 repetitions. The Lobos got their sweat on today and kept the workout fresh! Below is a list of what they accomplished

Push Ups, Crunches, Muscle Ups, Plyometric Vertical Jumps, Jumping Jacks, 4 laps around the ramada area ( around 250 meters per lap), Pull Ups, Tricep Dips on a bench, Incline push ups on a bench, Cartwheels, Leg lifts, Yoga planks.

No Joker's today but we had a few face cards, 10's and aces.

Another great day at the Kino Center!

Fire Up!

Coach Rod

Lobo Freerunning (Parkour) Video Style! 9/24/09

This is my first attempt at posting video of our class. I don't have all of the new 'bells and whistles' technology.
It was filmed with a 4 year old Kodak digital camera (5.0 megapixel).
It was put together on a 6 year old HP Laptop with Windows Movie Maker.
Took me a couple of hours to put together (old technology crashed a couple of times but thankfully auto-saved most of the project:) It should be easier from now on.
The students look really neat on film and truly work their tails off for me in class. This is my first tribute to them. I just hope I do them justice with this 1st project. Thanks go out to the Kino Center for allowing us to use their fantastic facilities and to Alta Vista High School for giving me the opportunity to do what I truly love to do: Teach and coach students.
Fire Up! Coach Rod.