Weightlifting is one of the many amazing classes Millikan has offered for years for students to stay active along with PE (physical education), dance, and various other sports, but it does not seem to be talked about enough. This class is available only to juniors and seniors.
It was not a surprise to find out that the weightlifting class is occupied with majority males. According to Mr. Schofield, one of Millikan’s PE teachers, boys soccer coach, and weightlifting teacher, only three girls are currently enrolled. One girl for each of the periods of weightlifting. The question comes down to why aren’t more girls taking weightlifting?
I believe a reason for this could include the intimidation that comes from joining a place where you are the minority.
QUEST junior Melia Kukahiko said, “I would have considered it before when my brother was here, but now it is a little more uncomfortable.”
Similarly, SEGA sophomore Jacob Avalos feels that boys scare girls away.
“I think a girls [only] weightlifting class would be good and help them [girls] feel more comfortable,” said Avalos.
To exemplify, there is also a common experience in the world of sexual harassment in the gym. According to an article published in 2022 in USA Today, “A recent survey of 900 women found 71% of them changed their workout routine due to a negative encounter such as being watched, being followed around, or due to unwanted physical contact.”
This leaves the question of whether the issue really is the lack of classes or is it the behavior of men that needs to be further examined and discussed. Knowing that this factor is less manageable, the school should make better efforts to separate the boys and girls in the same way they do for sports.
Ms. Mashburn, Millikan’s head counselor, offered some insight on the limitations of starting a new weightlifting class. She explained the process that is currently in place from Oct. to Nov. where teachers and staff have the opportunity to fill out a course proposal form and offer the course they are interested in teaching along with a few other requirements. From there it goes to the master schedule team that decides if they can or can not support it along with the time frame that would be the best.
Mashburn also discusses some of the other implications and why she believes it is not a possibility in the near future.
“There are a certain number of teachers and we can’t have Schofield teach that many weightlifting classes because we need him for PE,” said Mashburn. “If we don’t have enough funding to hire more teachers we need to defer,” she added.
Mr. Brown, a new assistant principal also gave some insight on the course proposal form process. “A very important component in building a master schedule is student requests,” said Brown.
To get a more concrete representation of the views on campus, 50 girls were randomly selected during lunch where 56% felt they would join an all-girls weightlifting class, 32% responded maybe and only 12% felt it was not for them. Knowing that more than half of the surveyed girls are interested, there should be a higher effort to accommodate adding an all-girls weightlifting class to student electives. Although providing this class would be the best way to ensure a more comfortable environment, setting strict boundaries in a co-ed class and making sure they are being implemented would be another efficient solution.
Mr. Schofield, the weightlifting teacher, also feels that an all-girls weightlifting class would be a good idea. He had discussed the idea of starting an all-girls class with administration and asked if it would be a possibility in the future, but a follow up was never made.
“I always ask [girls] to join, but throughout the years the enrollment has lowered,” said Schofield.
Weightlifting is a hobby that is continuing to grow and it should be a space that feels comfortable and inclusive for both boys and girls. Lifting weights has been proven to have many benefits like improved self confidence, increased resting metabolic rate, good movement patterns, improved bone mineral density, and a decreased risk of metabolic syndrome. Read the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) article written by Nicole Golden to learn more. Despite the limitations, an all-girls weightlifting class would be a great addition to the school.
samara • Dec 7, 2023 at 9:02 pm
In this article Garcia explains how many girls feel discouraged to join the weightlifting class that is offered at Millikan. Garcia shares the data from a survey that she conducted, this provides logos, where she randomly selected 50 girls and asked if they would join an all-girls weightlifting class. With this data she found that 56% of the girls surveyed would join an all-girls weightlifting class. Garcia provides us with some solutions to achieve an all-girls weightlifting class, but there are many limitations that would cause our school to be unable to have an all-girls weightlifting class. Garcia spoke to the weightlifting teacher, Mr. Schofield, and believes that an all-girls weightlifting class would be a good idea. Schofield says, “I always ask [girls] to join, but throughout the years the enrollment has lowered.” Schofield had even discussed with the administration for an all-girls weightlifting class to be made, but there was never a follow up. Garcia also spoke to Millikan’s head counselor, Ms. Mashburn, and she explains that without proper funding to hire more teachers it would be unlikely that there would be an all-girls weightlifting class in the near future. Schofield is not only the weightlifting teacher but he is also a PE teacher. He would be unable to teach more weightlifting classes when he is also needed for PE. Garcia provides insight into both sides of the argument, making an all-girls weightlifting class. While she provides evidence and good reasoning as to why an all-girls weightlifting class should be made, administration provides insight into the limitations that may not allow this to happen.
Garcia takes the time to explain how girls feel uncomfortable when trying to workout and reach their fitness goals. Garcia mentions an article from “USA Today”, where it says, “A recent survey of 900 women found 71% of them changed their workout routine due to a negative encounter such as being watched, being followed around, or due to unwanted physical contact.” Garcia spoke to QUEST junior, Melia, who explains how she would feel uncomfortable joining the weightlifting class without the presence of her older brother. Garcia argues that the reason for joining the weightlifting class might not be just because there is a lack of classes, but because of the behaviors of men. Garcia explains how all other sports are separated by gender and they should make more efforts to separate the weightlifting class into two separate classes for boys and girls.
Garcia ends her article with a sense of hope that there may eventually be an all-girls weightlifting class.
Sincerely,
Samara Cunningham
Ryan Harlocker • Dec 5, 2023 at 6:30 pm
In this thoughtfully written article, Garcia makes it a point to address the concern of girls commonly being harassed in the gym and makes a connection to this possibly being the result of this hesitant statistic. I appreciate that Arianna chose to survey 50 girls at school to give a somewhat broad range of thought processes when it comes to this subject. She essentially concludes that adding an all-girls weightlifting class would clear some of the timidness and stigma around the sport. Arianna also makes a point to interview the head coach of the boy’s weightlifting class, as well as head counselor Ms. Mashburn to further gather some insight on what could be preventing this from happening. Despite some apprehensive limitations, Garcia offers informative arguments to back her claim that with an all-girls weightlifting class, more would be open to the idea of taking this hobby up.
Tere Quezada • Dec 3, 2023 at 8:25 pm
On November 3, 2023, Arianna Garcia wrote an editorial article titled “Power Pump Girls, Let’s Make It Happen!” In this article Garcia establishes that many girls feel discouraged from joining the elective weightlifting class. She clearly established ethos by taking the data she collected in a survey and sharing it with us. The data Garcia collected show that 56% of the high school girls surveyed are interested in an all-girls weightlifting class. The argument of this class being an elective class may come into play but I believe that it is unfair to use this as an excuse. Girls deserve the same right to feel welcome and comfortable in what is still a class setting, which transitions to establishing the proper boundaries of a co-ed classroom as Garcia mentions. She does an amazing job at balancing both sides of the argument while giving credit to school administrators and validating the way Millikan girls feel in the environment. I hope administrators take this into consideration and find a solution to uplift these girls.
Sincerely,
Tere Quezada
Cameron Floyd • Nov 30, 2023 at 1:21 pm
On November 3, 2023, Arianna Garcia wrote an article titled “Power Pump Girls, Lets Make It Happen!” This article delves indepthly into the adversity female’s face when attempting to enroll into weight lifting classes at Robert A. Millikan High School. Garcia uses various primary source accounts from female students, while also providing crediable statistics that further strengthen her overall argument. Some of these accounts include not only women that are discouraged from joining weight lifting classes for various factors, but faculty members who provide a different perspective on the issue. This demonstration of multiple perspectives also allows the introduction of another possible reasons that leads to discouragement, which is the fear of the conduct of male students in the gym. Furthermore, Garcia invokes a call to action as faculty members who teach different forms of physical education encourage and desire more participation of women in the weight lifting sphere at school. Lastly, the article leaves the lingering hope of having a all-girls weight lifting class as a solution and a optimistic outlook on future developments regarding this issue.
Sincerely,
Cameron Floyd
Grace Cozatt • Nov 30, 2023 at 1:17 pm
Garcia’s article explains why there are very few women in the weightlifting classes offered at Millikan. She goes on to suggest solutions to the very differing ratio of men to women. I think that this article is very relevant to larger issues going on in the world today. The debate over how women are treated in gyms is something that is discussed wildly and many women feel safer in a “women’s-only” gym. If we were to implement that idea at Millikan by separating the classes by gender, ultimately women might feel more included in athletics. Some of the quotes that you provided in the article offer some insight as to why it may not happen. The reasoning these quotes gave feel almost like just an excuse. It feels that everyone that would be affected by it wants to have weightlifting for women only. The female student population and even the man that would teach it want class to happen. Overall, this article was very well informed and was very much enjoyable.
Benjamin Cholico • Nov 30, 2023 at 1:17 pm
On November 3rd, 2023, Arianna Garcia wrote an article titled “Power Pump Girls, Let’s Make It Happen! ”. The article consists of a call to action in which female students would be more likely to apply for a gym class if it were an all girls elective. Throughout the article, Arianna uses complex word structure to establish the positive benefits of how girls would be more likely to enjoy their experience working out if men were not in the same gym as them. Ms. Garcia states that the main motive behind this movement is to insure safety for female students and protection from possible sexual harassment from men when working out. The article states “ A recent survey of 900 women found 71% of them changed their workout routine due to a negative encounter such as being watched, being followed around, or due to unwanted physical contact.” This data signifies how much of a threat teenage males are when put in an environment with females their age. The majority gap between the two demographics is revealed during an environment such as working out in a co-ed gym. However, isn’t putting students in an environment like this meant to prepare them for the real world? How will boys know how to control themselves when faced with situations like this without handling it immaturely? So while yes it does seem practical to divide the gym classes into boy sessions and girl sessions, we strip the materials required to help prepare students to know how to handle situations similarly in the real world.
Eva Esqueda • Nov 30, 2023 at 11:04 am
This extremely informative article written by Arianna Garcia reveals many possible solutions to solving the issue of not having many girls participating in the weightlifting class. Arianna makes it clear that the lack of women participants isn’t due to women not being interested in taking the class, instead they feel more uncomfortable, and that they are part of the minority as the majority of the class is boys. I loved that Arianna includes the data from asking 50 random girls at lunch if they would be interested in taking a weightlifting class. Even the weightlifting teacher Mr. Schofield feels an all girls weightlifting class would be a great addition and should be an option. Arianna stating that weightlifting has so many benefits such as improving self confidence and physical health proves that it would be an amazing inclusion.
Elizabeth Torres • Nov 30, 2023 at 11:03 am
The article moves to add an all-girls weightlifting class to persuade more female students to join the class. Garcias begins with great context on the current weightlifting class and its lack of female enrollment. Later, she provides possible reasoning and solutions to the lack of participation of women in the class. She claims that many of the female juniors and seniors at Millikan are probably uncomfortable being the minority in a class of mainly boys, and she adds that creating an all-girls class would inspire more girls to add the class to their schedule. I admire her addition of student opinion in the matter, which is shared through quotes from both female and male students, and in surveys of a randomly selected population in the school. This gives it a sense of community among the audience of mainly millikan students. Similarly, she discusses with the weightlifting teacher, Mr. Schofield, to add that he agrees with the idea of a new class, gaining approval from some authority. However, Millikan’s head counselor, Ms. Mashburn, had some insight of the limitations of the project. Garcia including her input proves a great deal of informative arguments because she could have avoided the obstructive side of the argument.
Personally, as a student of Millikan, I’d like to add I was unaware that there even was a weightlifting class. Is it possible that students are just uninformed of the class? Are there more reasons for the lack of girls than just feeling uncomfortable in the environment?
Amanda Zorick • Nov 30, 2023 at 11:00 am
This article was extremely well written and provided a lot of new insight about a class at Millikan that I didn’t even know existed. There was a beautiful comparison of this controlled school gym environment to gyms everywhere and how women may have doubts about working out or weight lifting because of how they might be treated. Women and feminine appearing individuals are usually the minority within athletic atmospheres and they are wary of how they may be taken advantage of. I appreciated how Garcia incorporated quotes from a wide range of perspectives such as students, faculty, and administrators because they all showed why there are so few females taking the course and why an all girls course seems like it would be beneficial but also how it is just not feasible for Millikan right now. Although there are multiple different perspectives, I would have appreciated a little more explanation of the quotes that were used and some more connections to credible websites where readers could learn more about systemic issues with athletic environments.
Julianne Bermudez • Nov 30, 2023 at 10:58 am
The article is a well-written report that introduces the idea of a new weightlifting class for only girls. In the article, the author does an amazing job of gathering specific information from several voices on campus grounds, such as two Millikan students, the weightlifting teacher, the assistant principal, and Millikan’s head counselor. This not only allowed the writer to underline different perspectives on this particular topic, but also state her key points in recognizing the comfort levels most girls are able to tolerate before feeling out of place. Additionally, the writer does an excellent job at gathering the overall data that assists in solidifying her claim, in which she explains 56% would be interested in joining an all-girls weightlifting class, 32% would possibly join, and 12% felt the class would not be the right fit for them. This informed me that there are many girls on campus who are currently open to the writer’s idea of enrolling in an all-girls class. Moreover, the writer also makes it a point to introduce themes of sexual-harassment, which I find to be incredibly important when it comes to such a topic. The writer states that sexual-harassment happens to be one of the main reasons many girls are not taking this class in the first place. She explains that sexual-harassment happens to be a shared experience in the gym, revealing that 71% of women have made a change in their daily workout routine due to having felt watched, followed around, or experiencing unwanted physical contact. In that case, I appreciate the writer for calling attention to the idea of implementing a new all-girls weightlifting class into the curriculum. This is an incredible solution that I see as a step in the right direction for Millikan in terms of breaking down gender-based barriers. Girls have the right to feel safe and confident when pursuing their fitness goals, and should not have to feel uncomfortable in any given situation. Overall, I truly enjoyed this article and found it to be an interesting topic that needs to be addressed more often. It highlights the challenges women have to face on a daily basis and leaves me inspired!
Natalia Duenas • Nov 30, 2023 at 10:50 am
This article includes a personal and empowering message. With a plethora of opportunities provided at school, it is easy for some to be overlooked. By writing about the weightlifting class, a new light is shone. Additionally, highlighting the lack of female participation in the class, works to encourage and motivate other female athletes to join. Furthermore, including a testimony from one of the female students on campus, the reason for a lack of girls in the class is explained. Not only does a personal testimony account for the gap between women’s and men’s participation in weightlifting, but providing the statistic that a majority of women feel uncomfortable performing certain exercises accomplishes that as well. By suggesting the possible solution of a female-only weightlifting class, the author attempts to resolve this issue. Ultimately, this article does an incredible job of highlighting a hidden gem at Millikan and motivating girls to participate in weight lifting.
Emily • Nov 30, 2023 at 9:15 am
This article was very knowledgeable in the learning about the weightlifting class Millikan offers. Garcia explains in depth how to solve the problem and attract more girls into the weightlifting class. Garcia gathers opinions of other students in Millikan to discover what they pose could help attract girls into the weightlifting class. She also presents the statistics of how many girls would be more interested and encouraged to join the class if an all girls weightlifting class was offered.
I believe that an all girls weightlifting class will be beneficial to Millikan. Many girls will be much more interested in joining the class. They would also feel more comfortable in this type of environment and feel less judged by others. These students could develop new friends this way and discover a hobby they will continue to do for many years to come. Although their isn’t a teacher at the moment for an extra weightlifting class, the school could make fundraisers to potentially hire a new teacher or find a way to work around Mr. Schofield schedule to make this class happen.
Juliette Montiel • Nov 30, 2023 at 9:11 am
This article does an excellent job of addressing the concern of girls’ involvement in Millikan’s weightlifting class while simultaneously dissecting the problem and proposing achievable solutions. The introduction of the article does well to give context to the problem and explain what’s really going on. It is very admirable that the author goes on to address the issue of the gender discrepancies that may also play a role. This is a topic that is quite sensitive to some, but it was incorporated into the article outstandingly.
Furthermore, the article was greatly enhanced by the use of direct quotes from Millikan students who were concerned with the problem. Along with this, the statistics gathered support the information very well and create a lens from which the audience can look through the problem. Being able to see that there is desire for enrollment in the weight room from girls is very eye-opening and makes the issue seem more relevant and urgent. The solutions presented seem probable and very realistic, giving the article credibility. I hadn’t heard of the weight room class in depth until reading this article, but now I feel like I have come to a better understanding of what the class is and why there is such a large difference in enrollment between genders. The article is very well done.
morgan • Nov 29, 2023 at 10:58 am
This article is able to explain the positives of introducing a new class into the master schedule, girls-only weightlifting. Garcia describes how this could be implemented into the school and the path to take to get to that point. Also, additional feedback was added from not only faculty, but also students, on the topic. According to the article, out of the three weightlifting classes we do have, there are only 3 girls total enrolled and the rest being boys. Garcia discusses with Mrs. Mashburn, the head counselor at Millikan, discussed the topic and she explained why it might not even be a possibility to add another weightlifting class into the master schedule. Garcia tells us that this is because of, not the students, but instead challenges with teachers having availability in their schedules to teach this new class. The current weightlifting teacher states that he would like to see an all-girls weightlifting class added to the school. The current reason many girls feel uncomfortable with joining co-ed weightlifting classes, as Garcia describes, is that many girls can feel uncomfortable with sharing that space with boys. Garcia makes an addition of statistics into her article by interviewing 50 girls from random at lunch. 56% were seen to join an only girls weightlifting class, 32% said maybe, and 12% implemented that it would not be for them. Garcia goes on to say that over half of the girls interviewed expressed that if an only-girls weightlifting class was added, meaning that there should be a better effort to providing this class.
Maggie Wells • Nov 29, 2023 at 9:43 am
On November 3, 2023, Arianna Garcia wrote an article titled “Power Pump Girls, Let’s Make It Happen!”. This article really stood out to me as a girl who lifts weights regularly, and the author did a great job of specifically laying out the issue and what steps can be done to take action. I especially liked the included quotes from interviews with not only the girls that are scared to join weight lifting, but the teachers and their concerns as well. It’s also very important how the author provided a well researched solution and gathered data to prove that a lot of girls would join an all girls weightlifting class. The article also reaches out in sympathy for the girls who feel scared to partake in such all male classes, and gives them a solution which the author has researched and even gotten an opinion from a head staff member. The end of the article leaves you with the inspiration to help make the change, despite the limitations within our school.
Sophia Nygaard • Nov 29, 2023 at 9:26 am
On November 3, 2023, Arianna Garcia wrote an article titled “Power Pump Girls, Let’s Make It Happen!” which spotlights the awareness of comfortability in weightlifting classes for women. Arianna does a beautiful job gathering data and providing possible reasons for the slow decline in women enrolling in the class, along with the highlight of a new weightlifting class mainly focusing on all girls, which could make headway into the school. But as a junior myself, I have never heard of nor seen this class before and am wondering why there isn’t more publicity for this class. Could that also be a contributing factor to the low rates of enrollment? Another topic I would like to shout out is the inclusion of sexual harassment and how that is being considered as one of the factors of few women joining, as it is a severe topic not just in school but also throughout the world. Arianna portrays this not just through evidence from the article “USA Today” but also from two students at Millikan who give insight on the topic. Could this be a new step into a brighter future for other classes for women here at Millikan? How could this affect our perception of the balance of equality in schools and comfort levels between people? Excellent job on the article and its balance in not just evidence but understanding the different levels of the challenge in gender roles and how we fight for equality throughout the school.
Dayanara Zamora • Nov 29, 2023 at 9:16 am
This article has a great statement on why there are only three girls in weightlifting. I also believe that most girls don’t join the class because it’s only filled with boys and barely any girls. This makes the girls out of their comfort zone to join. In order to fulfill this problem our school Millikan should have an all girls weightlifting class. I believe if we have that option a lot of girls would like to join. For example, I know some girls in the school soccer team that want to do weight training to get stronger but don’t really like the idea of having to go while it’s filled with people opposite of your gender. If Garci has a strong voice I believe she can make this happen.
Arianna Garci has a great point of having weightlifting class for girls being a great addition to Millikan. She has stated that “Lifting weights has been proven to have many benefits like improved self confidence”, I truly believe that if I did weightlifting as a girl I would feel more better about myself overall and most likely others too. But there is a little problem as stated in the article “I always ask [girls] to join, but throughout the years the enrollment has lowered,’ said Schofield”, I think that girls don’t join because someone needs to start the lead. For example, a group of girls joining the class first, then as other girls realize that girls are joining then they would want to start to enroll in the class.
Danyela Brilliant • Nov 29, 2023 at 9:09 am
In Arianna Garcia’s article about weightlifting, she introduces the idea of having a weightlifting class but only for girls. She, and many others, feel that one of the main reasons why more girls don’t join the weightlifting classes that there are currently, is because there aren’t many girls and then they would be the minority in a class filled with boys. Some people she has asked have said that all those guys can make the girls feel uncomfortable, considering there is only one girl per class period right now in Mr. Schofield’s classes. Mr. Schofield, the weightlifting teacher, along with other things, has even said himself that he has talked to administration about getting an all girls weightlifting class, but they never had a follow up meeting about it. Ms. Mashburn, Millikan’s head counselor, has said that there are restrictions and reasons why this wouldn’t be optimal for right now or the near future, such as the process of asking and discussing to get a new class and determining if there is room in the schedules and if they can hire another teacher. These are some valid reasons, but then again they do seem like they have just been putting this off and not really loving the idea of getting this new class added. Garcia went around at lunch asking 50 girls if they would be interested in joining an all girls weightlifting class; the data she collected was that 56% said “yes”, 32% said “maybe”, and only 12% responded with “no”. This goes to show that these high school girls would be interested in taking an all girls weightlifting class without any boys so they can do their weightlifting comfortably and without worry.
Allyson Richter • Nov 29, 2023 at 9:06 am
On November 3, 2023, Arianna Garcia wrote the article “Power Pump Girls, Lets Make It Happen!” This opinion article brings up important topics that can provide insight as to why there are so few girls in the weightlifting class. Garcia’s use of student quotes from both girls and boys helps solidify her point that girls may feel uncomfortable in a male dominated weightlifting class and that an all-girls weightlifting class would be beneficial. Her use of numerous Millikan staff quotes also helps give her article more weight and standing. Garcia included quotes from the weightlifting teacher, the Millikan Head Counselor, and an assistant principal. These quotes show support for an all-girls weightlifting class, but clarify why it is difficult to start one. I think this article gives a good look at a universal experience women face. Even if they have not experienced harassment themselves, many women still feel unsafe in spaces such as a weightlifting area. Thank you Arianna for this article that sheds light on the experience.