Physical Education
Physical Education at Brehm Preparatory School is based on personal fitness.  The importance of physical fitness is stressed with a “how to” approach.  Each student is tested in the eleven areas of fitness.  There are five health-related areas; muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, and body fatness.  There are six skill-related areas; agility, balance, coordination, speed, power, and reaction time.  Principles of training are introduced as students gain in knowledge base and readiness.  Some of these principles are as follows: specificity, frequency, intensity, duration, target zone, caloric expenditure, and risk factor.

These areas are all introduced, but the primary thrust of the program is actual participation in a fitness program tailored to eh student’s needs and interests.

Adaptive Physical Education
Adaptive physical education is based on individual physical fitness needs.  The importance of physical fitness is stressed with a “how to” approach.  The primary thrust of the course is actual participation in the program tailored to meet each student’s needs and interests.  This course incorporates sensory-motor integration activities to improve motor and cognitive skills.

Health
Health classes are taught each semester at Brehm.  Each student must complete a health class as a graduation requirement for the State of Illinois.

Material covered during one lesson is reviewed and or linked to new material being covered.  The students are quizzed and tested periodically in order to earn credit for this class.  Other ways to earn points include: written essays, poster and oral reports.
Topics covered in health class:

Wellness and Total Health
We identify the three components of health and how to make responsible choices that will positively affect those components.  The concepts introduced here ar physical, social and emotional health.

Conflict Resolution and Preventing Violence
This portion of health deals with making healthy decisions about what abuse is and how to report it.  We also cover ways to help if you are being targeted as a victim of abuse.  The last component in this section is to learn how to mediate a conflict or conflict resolution.

Nutrition
This unit focuses mainly on the elements necessary for proper nutrition and how to make healthful food choices. We look at nutrients needed for good health, how to develop a diet based on the food pyramid, the role of calories in weight control and we look at eating disorders.

Substance Abuse
Alcohol and tobacco are the two major drugs studied.  We look at their various forms and effects.  We also look at other illicit drugs such as depressants and stimulants used in street drugs.

 Wellness and Body Systems
We look at the major systems of the body.  We learn about the functions and identify the major components of each system.  The systems covered include: nervous, circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, muscular, digestive, endocrine and reproductive system.

STD Awareness and Prevention
We study common STD’s, bacterial infections, viral infections, and parasites.  In this section we also focus on HIV…What it does and ways to prevent the spread of this deadly disease.

Parenting Skills
 The students learn the major commitment of parenting.  We look over some of the costs of babies and the time it takes out of a normal teenager’s life.