When Melanie Provost began junior high, she was overweight and terrified of the requirement to enroll in gym class.
But before long, Provost said, she discovered an aptitude for basketball and volleyball that, combined with information from also-required health and nutrition courses, led her to eventually compete in varsity high school sports and attend college on a full-ride athletic scholarship.
"All of my preconceived ideas about PE were changed in that year,” said Provost, now a gym teacher at Sand Ridge Junior High School. “I lost 50 pounds in ninth grade and changed my life forever.”
Provost was among the attendees at a special hearing of the Utah Board of Education Wednesday evening, during which speakers spent more than three hours asking the board to either uphold, delay or rescind a policy making classes on health, art, physical education and career awareness optional for middle school students.