With the help of my middle school students, I created this “A Female Athlete Is…” bulletin board. My students were assigned to find five clippings from a magazine that represented what a female athlete meant to them. Their clippings could be of:
• People (ie: famous athletes, themselves!, etc…)
• Ideas/Items (ie: picture of muscles, running shoes, etc…)
• Words (ie: intelligent, team, strong, etc….)
• Anything that represents what a female athlete means to them…
They were also required to write a short summary of their clippings explaining why they picked them/what they meant to them. I included some of these summaries on my bulletin board. They were extremely insightful and interesting to read!
The purpose of this bulletin board was to help my students realize that there are MANY types of female athletes. I wanted them to realize that they all possess characteristics of a female athlete, even if they are not on a sports team! I also wanted them to realize the plethora of ways that they can be physically active and healthy, even if they are not on a sports team.
I also put a sign on the locker room mirror that says, “A female athlete is…”. Every time the girls look in the mirror they are reminded that THEY are all female athletes!