PE teacher is state'€™s best

TALKEETNA — Remembering your elementary school days, physical education class was probably spent before or after lunch as an extra recess in the gymnasium.

Not anymore.

Karen Mannix, a physical education teacher at Talkeetna and Trapper Creek elementary schools and winner of Alaska’s 2009 Physical Education Teacher of the Year, stresses the benefits learned in physical education class.

“Physical education is not recess. It is a class where kids learn about concepts of health, life and how to move,” Mannix said.

Mannix was nominated last month at the Alaska Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AkAHPERD) 2009 Convention, according to a press release from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District.

At the conference, PE teachers from around the state discussed how to improve physical education classes, Mannix said.

“Teachers come to talk about physical education standards and we work as professionals to gather new ideas from each other,” she said.

Although Mannix is honored to win the award, she wants to recognize the value of physical education as it is integrated into everyday life.

“The award to me means that we are beginning to recognize the benefits of physical education in school. In physical education, these kids are learning good, lifelong habits. I am very committed to teaching kids how to eat healthy, get enough sleep and limit stress,” she said.

Mannix believes healthy living and exercise benefits students in the classroom as well, saying that recent research shows brain stimulation in students stemming from physical education classes.

Toward that end, Mannix helped found the Denali Junior Nordic Ski Club and the Green Light Circus.

In addition to her teaching skills, the Physical Education Teacher of the Year award acknowledges Mannix’s success in completing the national physical education standards, the press release says. These six standards, as reported on the National Association for Sport and Physical Education website, include:

1. Demonstrates competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities.

2. Demonstrates understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies and tactics as they apply to the learning and performance of physical activities.

3. Participates regularly in physical activity.

4. Achieves and maintains a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.

5. Exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical activity settings.

6. Values physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression and/or social interaction.