Oh, the irony that a rollercoaster of a year marked 2020 shares the same numbers as what ophthalmologists use to mark normal vision, 20/20. 

I don’t know about you, but personally, for me looking back on the past 4-ish months I somehow feel that time has flown and it’s also stood still. How is that possible? 

2020, a new decade. Time to reflect, make changes and look for new ways to improve what we want to do heading into the future. That is exactly what PSAHPERD did as it assigned an Ad Hoc Awards Committee to review all our awards and protocols to meet our mission. We wanted to continue to recognize our deserving Health Education and Physical Education teachers throughout PA. We are also striving to streamline the application and evaluation process by updating our criteria, applications, and rubrics. 

Cindy Allen, Judy Conroy, Fran Cleland Donnelly, Craig Kemmlein. Colleen Wegimont, and Margie Wuestner have been working over the past few months on this task.  As the chair of this committee, I have been blessed to work with these amazing and dedicated professionals.

Has this conversation happened in your faculty rooms? “They don’t understand what we do in our physical education classes.” “They” could be administrators, school board members, or parents. “They” often make assumptions about what physical education is like based on their own experiences in school. “They” are often decision makers whose very decisions can make it hard to grow.

What if you could offer insight into your philosophy and what happens in your class? Sharing what you do creates opportunities for learning for all stakeholders. “They” would gain an understanding of your thoughts, how you help your students, and what your students are learning. George Couros says about blogging, “When we see ‘sharing’ as something that both supports and pushes us to be better, the big winner will always be the students.” I think we can all agree the students are why we do what we do.