The Soberanes Fire has affected more than just  the environment – it disrupted physical education classes the first weeks of school. Even though the fire has not affected the air quality in a while, the fire has not been completely contained and it’s still a threat. P.E. teacher Ignacio Flores said, “We have had to pay close attention to the fire since the beginning of the year. Even though the air quality has gotten a bit better and we are able to do our daily fitness, we hope that the fire will soon end.”

Smoke in the air is a toxin that can harm anyone, especially people suffering from asthma. For this reason, the P.E. teachers decided to make their students stay inside the gym in the beginning of the year. Principal Ernesto Garcia gave the P.E. teachers a website so they could check the air quality and ensure the students are safe outside. To this date, all P.E. teachers are required to check the air quality daily. P.E. teacher Jennifer Hunsdorfer said, “We probably started dressing out a week and a half later because the air quality was very bad, we were not allowed to take the students out.”

In the beginning of the school year, while the air quality was at its worst, the P.E. teachers used this time to teach their students about how the fire can affect them, gave them extra time to purchase their P.E. clothes, and reviewed the syllabus. Hunsdorfer said, “The students responded a lot more positively than we thought. They had more questions, they were more in tune with it, and the kids with asthma were concerned with it.”

Moziah Stewart, a senior who has asthma said, “I would honestly protest if my P.E. teacher made me work out because I already suffer from bad health in general and I would hate if something else would happen to me again.”

Daniel Rocha, a sophomore, remembers feeling really tired and even having to take medication because he was having trouble breathing while the fire was hardly contained. His health wasn’t as good, but he was glad that the P.E. teachers were considering the health of their students. He said, “It felt good that the teachers were looking out for our safety and they took my health into consideration.”

Now that the air is clearing up, P.E. is in session and teachers can finally follow their lesson plans. Students are currently doing the physical fitness test which includes pacer, sit-ups, push-ups, and many other exercises. Flores said, “Because of the fire we had to be behind in terms of fitness. We weren’t allowed to be outdoors to run the mile so pretesting started about a week later than we usually start it.”

Although the air quality has is much better, the P.E. teachers are still worried that the fire will get worse. The fire is not completely contained and there is still a possibility that it will grow more, so the P.E. department has to be prepared in order to provide a good workout for their students. Hunsdorfer said, “If the bad air quality continued, the teachers would have to make new lesson plans so the students can get the same amount of exercise.”

The P.E. department will have to make new lesson plans if the fire gets worst and make their students workout in the gym for their safety. Flores said that if the fire gets worst then they will have to “be more creative and utilize our space to provide a good fitness and exercise environment.”