HSS Offers Free Daily Virtual Physical Education Classes for Students in Grades 3 through 12
As schools everywhere have shifted to virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HSS Sports Safety Program has turned its Learning Center into a virtual physical education (PE) platform for students. Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the top-ranked orthopedic hospital in the United States, is expanding virtual offerings of injury prevention programs to school-aged children across the nation and throughout the world.
“We have continually refined our digital programs to teach kids proper movement mechanics to reduce and prevent injuries,” said James J. Kinderknecht, MD, primary sports medicine physician at HSS and co-medical director of the HSS Sports Safety Program. “We launched our online Learning Center in 2018, so we were able to rapidly shift to providing classes to help PE teachers during this uncertain time.”
Created in 2015 with a grant from HSS board member James Dinan and his wife, Elizabeth Miller, through the Dinan Family Foundation, the HSS Sports Safety Program has worked to reduce the risk of ACL injury by providing movement education workshops, community presentations, and online classes to more than 50,000 coaches, parents, and young athletes. All offerings have always been free.
Now, the Sports Safety Program has created brand-new motion health classes aimed at three age groups: grades 3 through 5, grades 6 through 8 and grades 9 through 12. The program’s Learning Center features new classes each day for each age group that will run through the end of the school year.
PE teachers can have their students participate in classes each day to ensure they are not only staying active but also learning how to improve their health by reducing their risk of injury.
“The HSS Sports Safety Learning Center is a great tool for a physical educator in our current state. I can provide my students with an HSS lesson that they can follow along with,” said Matthew Bassett, a PE teacher at San Jose Charter Academy in West Covina, California, who added that he appreciated that the certification of completion is sent directly to the teacher once each student finishes the required quiz at the end of each workshop.
Other teachers have also lauded the quality of the online courses. Thomas Hunt, head of physical education at the British International School of New York, stated that “the online PE classes are very engaging and accessible, allowing for new learning to happen as the students are keeping physically active.”
"Students have a unique opportunity to engage in high-quality daily physical education and health through this innovative program,” said Michael Desimone, health/physical education and athletic director at Charter School of Educational Excellence in Yonkers, New York. “The program meets the state’s mandated 120 minutes of physical education per week, as well as all three physical education learning standards.”
The courses can be found at https://sports-safety.hss.edu/.
HSS is the world’s leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. At its core is Hospital for Special Surgery, nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics (for the 14th consecutive year), No. 2 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2023-2024), and the best pediatric orthopedic hospital in NY, NJ and CT by U.S. News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” list (2023-2024). In a survey of medical professionals in more than 20 countries by Newsweek, HSS is ranked world #1 in orthopedics for a fourth consecutive year (2023). Founded in 1863, the Hospital has the lowest readmission rates in the nation for orthopedics, and among the lowest infection and complication rates. HSS was the first in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center five consecutive times. An affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, HSS has a main campus in New York City and facilities in New Jersey, Connecticut and in the Long Island and Westchester County regions of New York State, as well as in Florida. In addition to patient care, HSS leads the field in research, innovation and education. The HSS Research Institute comprises 20 laboratories and 300 staff members focused on leading the advancement of musculoskeletal health through prevention of degeneration, tissue repair and tissue regeneration. In addition, more than 200 HSS clinical investigators are working to improve patient outcomes through better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat orthopedic, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. The HSS Innovation Institute works to realize the potential of new drugs, therapeutics and devices. The HSS Education Institute is a trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal knowledge and research for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, academic trainees, and consumers in more than 165 countries. The institution is collaborating with medical centers and other organizations to advance the quality and value of musculoskeletal care and to make world-class HSS care more widely accessible nationally and internationally. www.hss.edu.
