CHALK TALK: Quality Physical Education Makes a Difference

Last week I received a photograph from a teacher at my school. Her kindergarteners were working on an assignment in which they had to count a set of objects and then choose a word to write that number of times. One little boy wrote “PE” eight times in the allotted space. His smile beamed as he posed with his assignment, and my heart swelled to see his smile. It is still the first quarter of his very first school year, and Cooper is already crazy for physical education.

Physical education is a class that many of us remember from our own school days. Some have fond memories, while others remember it with a grimace. We all know the old stereotype of “gym class.” Every sitcom television program or movie about teenage angst has the same scene: big kids tormenting smaller kids with dodgeballs as the uninterested “gym coach” stands idly by. As a physical education teacher, I must admit that it breaks my heart to know that this scene resonates with such a large audience.

The good news is that those days are over!

Today’s physical education develops skills and instills knowledge for a lifetime of healthful activity. Today’s physical education inspires students to set goals and implement a plan to achieve them. Today’s physical education builds challenges atop earlier success, creating confidence and the desire to achieve.

And today’s physical educators are making a difference.

Each year, the Society of Health and Physical Educators of America (SHAPE America) honors health and PE teachers from all around the country who demonstrate the qualities we’d like to see in all of our children’s teachers. This fall, superintendents, principals, teachers, and community members have nominated 34 Alaskan health and physical educators for the honor of SHAPE Alaska’s Teacher of the Year. Reading the tributes to these amazing educators is the antidote to those television scenes.

One principal described her nominee as “an enthusiastic and energizing educator who strives to engage and empower her students. She is quick to offer flexible solutions to challenging problems, works outside of the school day to coach and support athletes, and promotes a positive community building-wide.” A colleague wrote this about another nominee: “To say she performs her job requirements as expected would be a gross underestimate of the role she plays for every student, parent, and staff life connected to our school.” A parent shared in her nomination: “I didn’t much care for PE as a child, but I think if I had her as my teacher I would love it. From what I have seen, she really makes things fun and is able to interact with the kids on their level while still maintaining structure and creating a great learning environment for all her students.”

Health and physical educators make a difference – to our kids, our schools, and our communities all across Alaska.

Parent-teacher conference days for the Mat-Su Borough School District are coming up at the end of this month. Be sure to introduce yourself to your child’s health and physical education teachers and learn what they are doing to make a difference in our schools and communities.

Nancy Blake teaches physical education at Goose Bay Elementary School.