Southwestern Central High School, with the help of the Chautauqua Lake Community Sailing Foundation (CLCSF), offered students an introduction to sailing course as a physical education elective this spring. The course had been a work in progress for several years between the two organizations and was well received by both participating students and teachers alike.

” ‘Sailing class in PE?’ That’s what our students were saying,” said Anne Beck, health and physical education teacher from Southwestern Central. “Many were not sure what to think, but by the end of the (course), they were sad it was over.”

The course was comprised of basic introduction to parts of the boat, water safety, weather patterns, tying knots and physical exercises focusing on core strength, endurance, as well as balance and teamwork.

Scott Cooper, high school principal at Southwestern Central, had this to say about the introductory course: “We are excited to be able to partner with the Chautauqua Lake Community Sailing Foundation. This new elective supports the mission of our physical education department to strive to ensure our students are lifelong exercise enthusiasts.

The course also supports one of the district’s goals to promote rigor across all content areas. Students were exposed to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) access points for guiding their inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking through an engaging project-based learning activity.”

The course also utilized the pool facilities for activities such as remote control model sailboat racing and cardboard boat racing in which teams designed, crafted, and raced their boats to offer a fun competitive element. Thank you to Bruce Janowsky and Jamestown Container Corporation for donating the cardboard that made this exciting activity possible.

Coach Hunter Farris, sailing director of CLCSF, worked alongside the Southwestern teaching staff to teach the six-week spring elective.

“We are very pleased with the turnout as well as the reception of this initial course,” said Farris. “This is the first time sailing has been offered as an elective within the high school level, so a lot of time and collaboration between the school board and staff with Chautauqua Lake Community Sailing Foundation took place to discuss just what type of course and experience we wanted to offer. Working out the logistics of offering students a hands-on experience with the actual sailboats was also tricky.” A C420 class sailboat, popular in high school and college level competitive sailing, was brought to the school and set up in the pool to allow students to experience rigging, tiller use, balance, and other features of sailing without leaving campus grounds. Said Beck, “Hunter, taught them … flipping the sail boat over and (getting) scooped up when we brought the sailboat back up. … The students are already asking for this unit next year.”

Both students and teachers at Southwestern expressed their excitement about getting out on Chautauqua Lake to sail.

The success of the introduction to sailing elective has led to interest in it being offered in other local area schools, as well as possible inclusion of middle school students.

“We are looking to take what we’ve learned with implementing this course, the activities and structure, and improving upon it for the future,” Farris said.

Southwestern Central and CLCSF are currently working toward offering the course again to high school students in the future.