Dear Parents,

My name is Fred Rosteck and I have been given the blessed opportunity to be your child's Physical Education teacher this year at Holy Spirit. I'm a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University and have been an educator for 45 years. I taught for the St. Louis Public school system for 31 years. After retiring from there I began teaching for the St. Louis Archdiocese for 14 years. After a year of retirement, I returned to the profession I love.

A little personal information about myself. I'm a parishioner of St. James the Greater parish in Dogtown. I have 2 married daughters, 2 grandsons and a granddaughter. A very active fan of all the local sports teams and try to keep active playing golf, riding my bike, and playing racquetball.

The program for the kids will be geared to enhance their fitness and create a mindset about the importance of keeping active to keep their mental and physical wellbeing in the forefront.
We will start the year doing the AAPHERD physical fitness test. We do this to see what kind of shape our kids are in and how we should alter the program to get them in the shape they should be. This is not a graded test. It is strictly an assessment test. We will retest at the end of the year. Our goal is to get all the kids above the 50% range, (the norm for kids their age) in all test areas. The program will also consist of active games, health instruction, team sports, and individual sports.

This will be our first year of using the AAPHRED FITNESS TESTING results to design our upcoming program. After going over the results, it appears we will concentrate on improving the student's flexibility and upper body strength.

The grading system that I use is not based necessarily on talent. Not all students are athletes. Some are artists, some are musicians, some are academics, and some are physically unable to perform certain tasks. This should not be held against them. Their grade will be based on their effort, conduct, and willingness to try things that are new to them. Students will be given 5 points per class. Points will be deducted for poor behavior, lack of participation, or failure to wear proper attire.

We will once again be requiring the 5th-8th Graders to wear a PE uniform while participating in class. Holy Spirit PE uniforms may be purchased through school. A form to purchase uniforms was included in the school packet you picked up. It will take a few weeks for the order to come in, so in the meantime students may wear a dark colored pair of shorts and a t-shirt. However, once the uniforms are in, the uniform will be required. Please make sure your children have proper athletic shoes for gym class. It is a matter of safety and comfort for the child.


If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via FastDirect. Please keep checking my FastDirect bulletin board for updates throughout the year.

Thanks for your attention
Fred Rosteck