(November 26, 2003) — The results of last spring’s “Fitnessgram” indicate that less than half of the 296 freshmen of Clark’s 2002 class who participated actually passed. The California Department of Education recently released the results of the physical fitness test, which evaluated the overall fitness of students in grades five, seven and nine. The 2002-03 California Physical Fitness Report states that the female participants at Clark showed a more promising result of 49%, while the males’ was a more disappointing 37%. However discouraging these results may seem, Anne Reinhard, Glendale Unified School District’s teacher specialist for assessment and evaluation, said that Clark’s numbers are actually much higher than the state’s average, which is around 25%. The test was based on six main fitness areas, all of which a student had to pass in order to be considered fit. These areas include cardiovascular endurance, body fat percentage, abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and endurance and overall flexibility. “When each student must meet standards in all six of the areas, it’s very challenging. So even students who meet standards in five of the six are considered to not meet the overall standards,” Reinhard added. Sophomore Ruzanna Barsegyan found running the mile to be the most difficult aspect of the “Fitnessgram.” “My overall speed really improved during the year because I practiced a lot at home. But such improvements never show up on tests like that; it’s just pass or fail,” she said. According to PE teacher Judy Thomsen, this state-mandated test is very limited and not accurate in testing students. “There’s more to PE than just fitness,” she said. “Along with fitness testing, individual fitness improvement should be taken into consideration, as well as sportsmanship and teamwork.” Thomsen added that PE teaches Clark students to be cooperative team members and critical thinkers.