Marywood-Palm Valley School is discovering the correlation between GPA and CrossFit.
Physical education is not a highlight of high school for most people. At Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, Calif., it is.
This fall, the small, private school introduced CrossFit to their P.E. classes for children in elementary, middle and high school. Now, students are clamoring to enroll in the CrossFit P.E. elective. The class, which is capped at seven students, is part of a CrossFit Inc.-sponsored study to track CrossFit performance and GPA at five schools.
How It Began
Bonnie Smith is an elementary and high school P.E. teacher and cross-country coach. For the last eight years, she’s taught at Marywood-Palm, a college-prep school encompassing pre-school through 12th grade.
Smith discovered CrossFit in January 2011. The more she did it, the more she wanted to introduce it into her teaching. Smith saw a CrossFit Journal article by Peter Jordan about his school-based affiliate, CrossFit Sawmill, and the success he had from adding CrossFit to P.E. classes.
Smith wanted to do the same thing.
In the spring of 2012, she approached members of Marywood-Palm’s administration to ask if they would support her CrossFit program.
“The head of school gave us the green light and a budget,” Smith says.
In June, she successfully completed the CrossFit Level 1 Seminar and applied for affiliation. She was approved and Ridgeline CrossFit was born.
At that point, Smith needed space and equipment.
“We gutted one of the rooms and put in rubber mats,” she says. “Home Depot donated materials and people gave money for supplies.”
Stronger and Faster
Marywood-Palm students have P.E. every day. Starting this fall, Smith began adding CrossFit twice a week for elementary, middle and high school students.
Just as she was setting up her affiliate, CrossFit launched a small-scale study involving CrossFit benchmarks and GPA.
“We’re studying five different schools and tracking performance on CrossFit and overall GPA,” Laura Bradrick says.
Bradrick is managing the study. “In each school, we also have a control group who is not doing CrossFit.”
The control group’s grades will be compared with the group that did CrossFit as part of its program.
The Marywood-Palm High School students participating in the study are taking an elective CrossFit class in addition to their regular P.E. class. Seven volunteers are following a three days on, one day off workout schedule. The group includes one girl and six boys — all are on various sports teams, except for one boy who had no athletic background.
“He’s doing great,” Smith adds.
Seven other students volunteered to be in the control group. Their grades will be tracked, but they are not doing any additional CrossFit.
It’s too early to evaluate the grades, but the students have already seen impressive athletic results, Smith reports.
“The reaction of the students has been amazing,” she says.
Smith’s husband, who also does CrossFit, is the school’s football coach. Five of his players are participating in the elective course and Smith says the impact on the team has been dramatic.
Like many small schools, Marywood-Palm plays eight-man football. It didn’t have high hopes for this year’s season. But to great surprise, the school ended up winning the league.
“The boys are stronger and faster,” Smith says. “One of the players told me, ‘CrossFit made me a better athlete.’”
Branndon Garcia came to Marywood-Palm in ninth grade, reeling from the loss of his parents. His mother died of pancreatic cancer; two months later, his father was killed in a car accident.
Garcia had the grades to earn acceptance into Marywood-Palm. Once there, he threw himself into football. Then came another setback. The 17-year-old had double hernia surgery and had to sit out his entire junior year.
Determined to get back on the field, Garcia did CrossFit the summer before his senior year and enrolled in Smith’s CrossFit elective. He had his best season ever.
“He rushed 380 yards in one game and won league MVP,” Smith says. “Now he wants to get his Level 1 (certificate) and open his own box.”
“It’s The Nature of CrossFit”
“I was surprised by how easy a transition it was to get (CrossFit) into the school,” Smith says. “The kids have bought in. It’s the nature of CrossFit. After the first workout, you’re hooked.”
Now she’s fielding requests from multiple students who want to get in the program next year.
“It’s spread like wildfire because the other kids have seen the results,” Smith says.
Those results have also prompted parents to begin CrossFitting.
“About six parents have started CrossFit since seeing the program rolled out this fall,” Smith says. “I joke that I should get a cut from the nearby affiliates.”
These days it’s common for Smith to get stopped at football games by moms asking for help with their clean technique.
“There’s a list of adults who want me to offer adult CrossFit classes at the school,” she says. “And kids want an after-school course. I have moms calling me, asking ‘When does CrossFit start next year?’”
