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​Imagine starting your week with a game of pickleball — and having it count toward your GPA. 

That was the case for many students who took Ted Welch’s pickleball course on Monday and Wednesday mornings during the final term of the spring 2025 semester.  

The class is part of the 91��Ƭ�� College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) , which introduces students to low-barrier, wellness-oriented activities. Students participating in LAP courses, ranging from yoga and cycling to fly fishing and meditation, earn two academic credits while developing healthy habits and exploring new interests outside their major coursework.  

“It's a nice break from regular classes,” says Kasey Simmons ‘25, who studied communication sciences and disorders at 91��Ƭ�� and took yoga classes as part of LAP. “You get to be active, meet new people, and do something that you wouldn’t normally be able to do on a Monday or Wednesday morning.” 

Supporting A Balanced Lifestyle   

The purpose of the (LAP) program is to encourage students to balance their academic lifestyle with recreational and social activities, according to Lifetime Activities Program Coordinator Forrest Schwartz, who also serves as a lecturer in the .  

Each LAP course runs for eight weeks; students can take multiple classes throughout the semester or during their time at 91��Ƭ��. The courses are structured around activities that are easy to get into, with low equipment needs, and that can be done on campus or nearby. Classes over the years have included strength training, stand-up paddleboarding, running, disc golf, ultimate frisbee, and wellness and wellbeing (a course led by 91��Ƭ�� Health and Wellness).  

“These are all activities that they can kind of dip their toes in with the program, and then ideally, it will be something they may adopt later in life,” Schwartz says. “There’s a lot of great research out there on quality of life and happiness, and one of the consistent findings is that people who have a sense of purpose beyond their careers tend to be happier, more fulfilled, and more satisfied with life.”   

Schwartz says LAP instructors come from the local community and bring valuable expertise to the program.  

Welch is a former athletic director from York High School in Maine and teaches pickleball in the Seacoast area. He has been teaching pickleball at 91��Ƭ�� since the LAP program started in 2019.  

“I’m a retired educator, so it was a good fit for me,” Welch says. “I love this campus, and working with the students is awesome.”  

Welch says when he first started the course, he had to cover a lot of ground because not many students were familiar with pickleball. As the sport has become more popular, students come to class knowing more, allowing Welch to begin each class by focusing on a particular aspect of the game, like serving or fine-tuning techniques, and then allowing students to compete against each other. 

“It’s an activity course, so it’s important that we stay active,” Welch says. “For many students, I think it’s a stress reliever. They get to complete a couple of credits and escape academic stress.”  

Trevor Chapman ‘25, who studied biochemistry, molecular, and cellular biology at 91��Ƭ��, says taking pickleball improved his student experience during a busy semester.  

Ted Welch gives instructions during his pickleball class.

“I had a pretty heavy course load and wanted to do something fun and engaging,” Chapman says. “I came across the LAP classes online and found pickleball. I thought it sounded fun, and it is.”  

Marina Alvarez ‘25, who studied sports management and leadership at 91��Ƭ��, took yoga as her first LAP class and then transitioned to pickleball.  

“It’s more of an interactive class, which I like, and there’s good competition,” Alvarez says.  

Other courses follow a similar format to Welch’s pickleball class. For example, in Introduction to Running, classes will sometimes focus on running techniques or the health and nutrition aspects of the sport but always end with students running together, according to Schwartz.  

Reaching More Students, One Activity at a Time 

According to Schwartz, between 12 and 13 LAP courses are offered a semester, and student demand to get into them is high. Schwartz says he wants to get more first-year students involved in LAP as a way for them to learn healthy habits as they transition to college.  

“We’d like to get students early and start teaching them healthy behavior,” Schwartz says. “So, for example, they could learn pickleball in their first year. And then four years later, they're still doing it or have tried other activities.”  

Schwartz is pleased that many of the students taking the courses come from all over 91��Ƭ��, not just CHHS. He hopes for the opportunity to grow the program, noting that there are several other activities, such as birdwatching, surfing, ice skating, and wilderness first aid, that would make for good LAP courses.  

“One of the biggest things for me is enhancing the student experience — giving them something valuable beyond the traditional idea of college, which is usually focused on earning a degree or excelling in a major,” Schwartz says. “We’re offering stress-relieving, quality-of-life-building skills that students can carry with them for life. I hear it all the time, students saying, ‘Wow, I’d never done yoga before, and now it’s absolutely part of my life and something I’ll keep doing.’”