Student instructor Spencer Carlson, a senior exercise science major at Slippery Rock University, leads a group of students through the battle ropes Monday as part of a high-intensity interval training workout during Kick Back Week.

While she has normally looks forward to relaxing this week each year, Sydney Bonds is spending this year's spring break a little differently.

In lieu of a normal spring break this year, Slippery Rock University shortened its academic calendar by a week to lower the time students would be on campus as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic.

So instead of the normal spring break, the university's Student Affairs Division organized a week's worth of activities called Kick Back Week, meant to stimulate students physically and mentally to relieve stress in a different way.

Bonds, a senior exercise science major at Slippery Rock University, will be leading exercise classes throughout the week at the school's recreation center, where students can participate for a chance to win a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods. Her classes are just a few of the offerings organized by the Student Affairs Division at the university, but she wanted to make sure they were relaxing and stimulating.

That includes high-intensity interval training, or HIIT.

“I'm teaching a HIIT class today,” Bonds said. “And I tried to put in a little more pilates and yoga, just inspired off of Kick Back Week.”

Lauren Moran, director of student engagement and leadership, said students may be feeling tired not only from their normal school work, but from pandemic exhaustion from having to take some of their classes differently than in past years. Through these activities, students can mark a midpoint to the semester while being entertained on campus.“This is a stressful time for a lot of people each year,” Moran said. “That's why there is a spring break: to refresh, to take a break in some way. As a division, we decided to plan a week of activities for students to get out of the day-to-day routine, and to keep them from travelling in the pandemic.”Moran said the student affairs office worked with multiple on-campus organizations to coordinate events of different types and in different spaces. She collaborated with the recreation center, support office, programming board, counseling center and campus Greek life, which all planned unique events to appeal to the largest number of students.“Events are going to be so different, we want as many students to participate as possible,” Moran said. “We wanted to have a range of events, because people relax in different ways.”Some events planned for the rest of the week include in-person and virtual fitness classes, a video game night, a drive-in movie showing and a painting class. Sunday kicked off the week's events with a disc golf tournament that Moran said had good student turnout.“We're trying to do as much as we can outdoors,” Moran said. “We want as many students to participate as possible.”

While Moran said the student affairs office is hoping for good turnout at the events, she said COVID-19-safe guidelines will still be in place at each event to ensure minimal risk of germ transmission between students. Several planned events, such as the in-person fitness classes, require an RSVP to make sure students can maintain safe distance from one another.Bonds said this week could be just as enjoyable as a normal spring break, because students can spend time with one another doing activities they haven't gotten to do in a group setting for far too long.“I definitely have felt the impact of not having spring break, now that I'm thinking about summer, because that's the next break we're going to get,” Bonds said. “I think this really helps, having group fitness and being able to talk to each other and complain to each other.”