Thanks to a cooperative effort from two departments, 10 new
horseshoe pits have been installed at San Benito High School while
helping to fill out the physical education curriculum and offering
more of an emphasis on leisurely activities. The pits were built
using skilled labor from the maintenance department and funds from
a block grant and the regular physical education budget.
HOLLISTER
San Benito County residents might just have the upper hand in horseshoes for years to come at future family celebrations and holiday parties.
Thanks to a cooperative effort from two departments, 10 new horseshoe pits have been installed at San Benito High School while helping to fill out the physical education curriculum and offering more of an emphasis on leisurely activities. The pits were built using skilled labor from the maintenance department and funds from a block grant and the regular physical education budget.
“We hired no outside work – it was all from maintenance skilled labor,” said San Benito High School physical education teacher Randy Logue. “It is a neat, joint effort and it really turned out nice.”
The sand and lumber came from a block grant given two years ago, and the horseshoes and stakes came from the normal school budget. All told, the whole project – including the sand, lumber and horseshoes – cost around $1,300.
The joint effort produced the 10 new pits between the tennis courts and the soccer fields in an area that had been used mainly for storage.
“They basically threw excess junk back there,” Logue said.
The pits got their first real use on Monday morning during Logue’s outdoor adventure activities class. Comprised mainly of sophomores, juniors and seniors, the class emphasizes various lifetime activities. Included are hiking, orienteering, canoeing, kayaking, Frisbee golf and gymnastics.
“There is a big emphasis in physical education on lifetime leisure sports,” Logue said, “increased emphasis on things you can do well into your 60s, 70s and 80s.” There’s also a social emphasis, he said, while also teaching long-term skills.
The idea for the pits came about after the state board of education a couple of years ago passed a series of new standards, with horseshoes included as an option.
One student at the pits Monday, sophomore Dylan Stout, noted how he’s from Idaho and residents there play quite a bit of horseshoes.
“We do a lot of that (in Idaho),” he said, adding that the experience of throwing horseshoes in gym class is different and new.
Sophomore Jennifer Simmons is among the students, meanwhile, who don’t plan to use the new skill down the road too much.
“But I enjoy it now,” she said.
While the state approved horseshoes as a possible activity for high school physical education, the SBHS district made the call to move ahead with it. Barb Ruth, a physical education expert with the state board, emphasized that its implementation is a local decision.
Logue, meanwhile, talked about how he plans to incorporate horseshoes into other gym classes. Further down the road, he would like to see horseshoes as a way to unite people, he said.
“The 10th-graders will be using them this spring and then to all the other classes,” he said. “It is a model on how various different groups can get something done.”
