The Electric Slide. The Cupid Shuffle. The Woo. These are just a few of the dances that help make up Coach Elliot Murray’s morning workout routine for students at the K-8 Kepler Neighborhood Charter School.

Murray, who has been the P.E. teacher at the Fresno-based charter school for nearly eight years, moved quickly to adapt Kepler’s physical education program to the reality of COVID-19 closures.

Coach Murray with some of his students, pre-COVID closures.

Since March, he’s posted a workout video on YouTube nearly every day. The videos are a way for students to stay fit at home while substituting for the in-person workout routine they normally receive when arriving at school.

Most of the videos are two minutes or less and consist of all types of different exercises including stretches, jogging, jumping jacks, and arm raises. As students work out, Murray offers up a virtual pep talk. 

“We can still have a good time. I don’t care what’s closed,” Murray says in one of the videos. “Let’s have a great day Renegades!” he says in another.

The settings in the videos are as varied as the exercises. Parking lots. An empty basketball court on campus. Murray’s backyard. A nearby lake. The change in scenery is intended to bring an exciting virtual escape for students who are mostly at home. The personnel changes too, with Murray joined by everyone from his mom to a local comedian.

Ultimately, Murray wants the daily videos to maintain a sense of community for students whose school year has been upended by unexpected and indefinite closures. 

“I have to do this,” he says of the videos, “I don’t want the kids to feel disconnected.”

Feedback of the virtual-only physical education has been overwhelmingly positive. Parents and students have sent a steady flow of emails to the school’s principal. Murray has received student and parent praise in person during trips to the grocery store.

For Murray, he knew this year was going to be hard with the departure of eighth graders who he’s known since first grade. The pandemic has made it even harder, putting distance between himself and those students during this special time of year. His sentimental mood is underscored by the direct and heartfelt message he has for his students:

“I love them and miss them.”