Body builders of third period PJ Laake ‘13 Every day four guys at the beginning of class go to the front of the room and do pushups while random music plays throughout the classroom. Whether it is rap, country, blues, metal, or classical music playing in the background, Drew Hilvers, Joey Martinelli, Mike Schroer, and Mr. Ahlers are up there every day working hard to fulfill their pushup quota for the day. In the first semester Kevin Laiveling also got into the festivities but quit after the second quarter. Even I jump up there some days to bust out about 5 or 6 solid pushups. When I spoke to Mr. Ahlers about this odd activity to start each class I asked him a few questions. Where did you get the idea to pushups every day? “We were talking in class one day about setting positive goals for ourselves and that we know the right things to do that will help us but we rarely follow through. I mentioned that I had considered the idea of doing 5o pushups every day for the quarter and then increasing by 25 each quarter. Some of the guys were really into the challenge – so we started doing the pushups together before class.” What has this experience been like for you? “It has been a very positive experience to do this with students even though we have had a lot of naysayers and people in the room that have criticized us for the way we do them even though they are too soft to do them themselves. In the end, a lot of people have criticized the guys because their pushups were not ‘good enough’ but no one dropped down and matched them, except for Ms. Schmitt who did 40 plus quality pushups on her first try and then never attempted it again. In the end, they realized that people may give them a hard time but doing something is better than doing nothing and criticizing someone who is.” What has it been like doing up to 100 each day? “The process has been challenging. No one could do 50 in a row when we started, but we all worked up to it and then continued to build. During the 4 th quarter we started to take days off to allow for recovery so we could see bigger gains.” Several of the guys have maintained this dedication while still lifting for other sports. Again, this just shows how committed they were. They would come in third period and try to knock out 75 or 100 pushups after having lifted hard with their teams the night before. It’s been impressive to see them battle through this. The goal of the year is has been to build up to 100 without stopping. It looked like Mr. Ahlers would get there first when he hit 91 on the 7 th of April, but then Drew Hilvers beat him to the goal when he hit 100 on May 1 st . I asked him how he felt about this accomplishment and he had this to say “I felt a bit tired when I got there, but I’d say it was worth it. When I hit 100, I got Eye of the Tiger played, so that was pretty awesome.” Drew is not involved with any official sports at Elder, but his dedication and ability are evident by his results. It is not clear if they will all make it to 100, Schroer probably will not, but the experience has been a positive one for everyone involved, and everyone has had tremendous gains. The real question is will Mr. Ahlers keep it up next year with whatever period wants to join him. If so then by this time next year he could be all the way up to 200.