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About Jack:
Jack has 40 years of teaching experience and has taught physical education at every level of the educational spectrum from early childhood through college. He retired recently from a 38 year career of coaching a variety of sports at the junior high, high school, and college level. He has 8 years of experience teaching using Polar technology. He’s a member of AAHPERD and has won a number of “coach of the year awards” at the high school and college level.
About Martin Luther College:
Approximately 800 students attend Martin Luther College, located in a rural part of south central Minnesota. All students are preparing to be teachers, staff ministers or pre-seminary pastors. Since the college is the ministerial education college for the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod church body, graduates go on to teach in WELS early childhood, elementary, and secondary schools across the U.S., or on to the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, WI to complete pastoral training.
Using Polar:
Polar technology was initially purchased with a faculty initiative grant and physical education department funds for a “Fitness for Life” class. This is a semester long class that is part of the core curriculum at Martin Luther and is a requirement for all students. Students use Polar F1, F11 and E600 heart rate monitors in addition to the TriFIT 700 System. This fall, all Polar equipment will be made available for all students, faculty, staff and WELS members in the community through the school’s fitness center.
The Buzz:
Jack likes “the fact that I have data to support student workout records. The watches record exactly what the students have done, when they’ve done it and how hard they exercised. I feel that I am empowering students to take responsibility for their lives and to have feedback to support their efforts.”
MLC’s Physical Education Department likes, “that our students are on top of the technology that is available for use in educational and personal settings and that our graduates will be prepared to impact the lives of the students they teach through the use of the latest technology.”
Students like that “they can see personal results from the feedback provided for each workout and they get a feeling of being in control of their workouts and lives.”
Personal Highlight:
“I have seen our students more motivated to workout because they can see their day-to-day efforts and mark their improvements.” --Jack Gronholz
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