Jacqueline Klimuk, a Grade 12 student in Calgary, said the beep test acquired a bit of a negative reputation among her classmates. 'There's a whole bunch of reasons why having to do that test in front of your peers is, I don't think, helping us reach this goal of creating a lifelong love of moving our bodies.' Student experiences The test has its place with more elite athletes, but since the test is done as a group, it can feel pretty competitive, she said. ' can work entirely against this notion that moving our bodies is something that should give us joy,' she said. She researches building healthy school communities. Shelly Russell-Mayhew, the director of the body image research lab at the University of Calgary, agrees. Some of the students didn't think it was a useful part of physical eduction class - outside of sports teams or other extracurricular activities. WATCH | The Calgary Police Service uses the beep test to assess applicants:ĬBC Calgary spoke to six current or recently graduated junior and high school students - as well as two parents of current or former students - and all but one said they'd taken the beep test at school within the last few years. They also choose how to assess the results - that is, whether students get an actual grade or marks for participating. The beep test is not a mandated part of Alberta's K-6 or Grade 7-12 physical education curriculum, so it's hard to pinpoint just how many schools in Calgary use it. The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) said it's up to teachers whether they want to use it as a tool in their classes. 'It's definitely a huge stressor as you're doing it, that you could be judged or you'll have to stop running.' And that is an unnecessary way of testing a person's fitness,' she said.

'It, in my opinion, pushes kids, including myself, past their limits. Another miss, and they're out.įor some, the test is a useful challenge, a way to measure their fitness gains. For Nelles, who's now in Grade 10, she says when she hears the test is coming up, she gets immediate stress and anxiety. If students can't make it to the other side of the gym before the beep, generally, they get a warning. To complete the test, students run from one side of the gym to the other, keeping up as the sound of the beeps slowly gets faster. She and her classmates line up on one side of the school gymnasium, waiting for the telltale chimes of the beep test, also known as the 20-metre shuttle run. Airdrie student Jillana Nelles says it's been a yearly occurrence since about Grade 5.

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