The whoosh of an archery arrow. The click-clacking of tap shoes. The loud thud of sneakers hitting the ground after clearing a hurdle. These sounds are not the sound of a sports tournament or a summer camp but of new electives implemented by the P.E. department to account for students’ interests and trends in popularity. New electives include archery, tap dance, track and field — held in the spring in combination with the fitness center — and net games, a combination of volleyball, badminton, eclipse ball and pickleball. The department also began to differentiate between competitive and noncompetitive sports. 

Scott Budeselich, P.E. department chair, said the department bases elective changes on popularity among students, requests and a goal of maintaining a program with a diverse set of offerings. 

“We just are trying to be well-rounded,” Mr. Budeselich said. “We base it off of what you all want  with what the students have asked for. We base it on, you know, what’s popular when people rank their choices, what are ones and twos in every unit.” 

The elective program is always expanding and changing with student interest in certain activities. Tina Rivera is the only teacher currently certified to teach archery, but if popularity grows, more teachers may get certified, Mr. Budeselich said. 

Junior Julie Guo took archery last year with the goal of trying something new. The archery elective started last year and is available this year in sixth and seventh periods. 

“A lot of things were still getting developed, but I think it was a really nice way to try something new, and it was a lot of fun,” Julie said. 

Nicole Petersen will teach a tap dance elective, an option that hasn’t been offered since she started at Lab 11 years ago. Ms. Petersen, the coach of the dance team, requested for tap dance to be brought back to diversify the dance offerings for students. 

“It’s really important for them to try something they might not have tried otherwise, and then maybe they find something they really enjoy doing and they continue it,” Ms. Petersen said. 

Julie agrees with Ms. Petersen. She finds that P.E. electives are an accessible way to try out a new skill. 

“I think it’s a great opportunity to try new things,” Julie said. “Lab offers it in a way that it’s very easy to learn something.” 

If a student thinks of an activity they want to see, Ms. Petersen encourages them to bring the idea to a teacher, and the department will explore the option. 

In the future, the P.E. department aims to maintain student engagement and enthusiasm for the elective offerings. 

“If we can keep doing what kids are passionate about and adjusting based on what they want to do,” Mr. Budeselich said, “we’ll be doing our jobs.”