MODESTO, California — When President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on July 31, 2025, formally re-establishing and restoring the Presidential Fitness Test alongside the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, it signaled a national return to rigorous physical education standards. In the wake of that announcement, the administration introduced the Presidential Fitness School Innovation Challenge, a nationwide competition designed to invite schools, districts, and youth-serving organizations to create and execute repeatable models that spark student participation, teamwork, and genuine enthusiasm for the historic test.
While educational institutions across the United States weigh their entries for the challenge, one institution that could serve as a premier example—and potentially emerge as a top contender should it enter—is Prescott Junior High School in Modesto, California. While the school enjoys a strong reputation across the board, it is internationally and locally renowned for its elite physical education program. Led currently by dedicated educators Jason Avelar and Garrett Beal, the program’s legacy as a fitness juggernaut spans nearly half a century, rooted deep in a community that still holds tight to its demanding standards.
Garrett Beal brings a unique background to the gymnasium floor. Having served as a police officer for a period of his life, Beal grew up playing various sports but credits a pivotal high school wrestling coach for introducing him to the weight room and shaping his professional trajectory.
“It was the first sport where I saw that being strong helped,” Beal recalled. “I fell in love even more with fitness than wrestling.”
For Jason Avelar, his introduction to physical training came while playing football during his high school days, where he quickly discovered a natural aptitude for leadership as a linebacker. His coaches recognized these qualities early on, planting the seeds for what would eventually become a career in education.
“I had a few coaches and teachers pull me aside and said, ‘Hey, I think you’d be a great teacher,’” Avelar said.
The Roots of Prescott Run Deep in the Community
Both Avelar and Beal are continually reminded of the historical magnitude of the program they manage. Modeled closely after the legendary La Sierra High School Physical Education Program—the gold standard of the 1960s President’s Council on Physical Fitness—Prescott’s curriculum has challenged junior high students for decades through a military-inspired structure that demands discipline and high performance.
The lineage of the program traces back to 1973, when then-Prescott P.E. teacher Mark Wilson witnessed a demonstration of a high-intensity, physical fitness-based curriculum. Inspired by the approach, Wilson adapted his own version for his students, challenging young adolescents to prioritize lifelong wellness and physical resilience during their formative years.
To gauge progress and instill a deep sense of motivation, the program utilizes a distinct color- and points-based progression system. All incoming students start from scratch with zero points and white trunks, facing a gauntlet of 20 different fitness tests. Each individual test awards one, two, or four points depending on performance. Once a student accumulates 60 points, they earn red trunks. However, in a twist that underscores the ongoing challenge, the scoring resets to zero as students transition to a more advanced tier of difficulty. Working back up to 60 points yields blue trunks.
“The tests at that point get very challenging,” Avelar noted.
Beyond blue, the program features elite categories represented by gold and purple trunks for top performers. Prescott even maintains a dedicated P.E. Hall of Fame to honor extraordinary achievements. Avelar recalled a standout student who cleared the rigorous purple trunk scoring requirements so early in her tenure that instructors had to invent an entirely new tier just to accommodate her.
“We decided on custom trunks,” Avelar explained. “Once you pass purple, you get to pick your own.”
While outsiders might view these hurdles as impossibly high, both Avelar and Beal emphasize that students invariably rise to the occasion, or at minimum push themselves significantly further than they would have in the absence of such lofty standards.
The results generated by the Prescott curriculum speak volumes. Among the generational milestones logged by students are a two-mile run completed in an astonishing 12 minutes and 27 seconds, an individual performance exceeding 6,000 continuous sit-ups, and multiple accounts of students completing over 1,000 unbroken push-ups. This relentless pursuit of excellence has yielded a profound generational impact across Modesto.
Beal frequently experiences this legacy outside of school grounds. “I wear my Prescott shirt anywhere around town, and people stop to talk to me about when they went there,” he said. During a local book club gathering, Beal happened to meet a man who recognized a familiar surname on the school’s Hall of Fame wall. “He told me, ‘Yeah, that’s my grandma,’” Beal recounted with a smile.
The Passion for Fitness Stays With Them
The culture at Prescott is self-sustaining in more ways than one. Several current faculty members at the school were once students there themselves. Both Beal and Avelar strive to serve as living examples of wellness by prioritizing their own physical fitness. They observe that while high school P.E. programs elsewhere may lack the same relentless intensity, alumni from Prescott consistently carry their fitness habits forward into adulthood. Many local residents may take the unique program for granted during their youth, only to appreciate the magnitude of the experience later in life.
“As they leave, they realize, ‘Oh crap, this is a super special place,’” Avelar said.
Both teachers express immense pride in contributing their own chapters to the ongoing Prescott narrative. They view their positions not merely as jobs, but as vital callings, taking nothing for granted as they witness daily transformations among their pupils.
“The fulfillment I get from showing up to school every day and seeing kids reach their goals, push themselves, do things they’ve never done before, and seeing the excitement on their faces is why I do it,” Avelar stated.
Beal echoed that sentiment, adding, “This is such a special place to be.”
While no official announcements have been made regarding the exact volume of schools expected to formally enter the Presidential Fitness School Innovation Challenge, Avelar and Beal have expressed deep satisfaction over the reinstatement of the Presidential Fitness Test. They hope the federal initiative will act as a catalyst for physical education programs nationwide to elevate their standards, encouraging students to embrace discomfort, push their boundaries, and tackle demanding physical challenges. As Modesto has witnessed firsthand for nearly half a century, the positive repercussions of such rigorous standards extend far beyond the gymnasium walls, creating lasting habits that endure for decades.
(Reporting contributed by M&F Senior Military Editor Rob Wilkins.)
