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Finding The Summit

by: Jessica Peconi-Cook
Category: Organizational update
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Apr
12

Finding The Summit

By definition a summit is:

  1. the highest point of a hill or mountain.
  2. the highest attainable level of achievement.
  3. a meeting between people who are interested in the same subject.

When we tried to think of a name for the relaunch of our professional journal, it only seemed fitting that after a year of what seemed like uphill climbing, we landed on the name, The Summit. While we saw metaphors in the first two parts of the definition, we had our “A-HA!” moment with the third...a meeting between people interested in the same subject. Over 6,300 of you supported our efforts in advocating for Health and Physical Education this year when proposed legislation threatened to cut programs in lieu of athletic substitution. Hundreds of teachers join us monthly, (virtually!) while watching live webinars, or catching up with the recordings later. For the past 100 years, HPE teachers have rallied together at our conferences and workshops to ensure they have access to the most up-to practices, content, and resources to continue their own professional growth. So yes, The Summit just felt right.

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The Future for Future Professionals!

by: Jessica Peconi-Cook
Category: Future Professionals
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Feb
17

SHAPE PA is excited to announce a new committee designed to meet the needs of our future professional members! The Future Professionals Advisory Committee (FPAC) is composed of a student representative from five Pennsylvania universities with Health and Physical Education teacher preparation programs; East Stroudsburg University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Lock Haven University, Slippery Rock University, and West Chester University.

Members of this committee will serve as liaisons between SHAPE PA and their universities. Their duties include monthly zoom meetings, reporting back to their universities, creating professional development opportunities for our future professionals through SHAPE PA, and assisting in projects and tasks assigned by the SHAPE PA Board of Directors (BOD).

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How Could We Ever Thank You?

by: Jessica Peconi-Cook
Category: Organizational update
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Jan
21

As teachers, we constantly have little reminders that remind us why we do what we do. An email from a former student now pursuing a degree in education because of you. A handmade card from a student. A phone call from a parent thanking you for the support and encouragement you gave their child. Those little moments have BIG impacts. 

As we were gearing up to launch our online learning series, we wanted to find a way to say THANK YOU to you, our membership for standing by. As an organization, we've faced a lot of challenges and changes. You were there with us through it all.  

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New Year begins with Last Year's Lessons

by: Jessica Peconi-Cook
Category: Reflection
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Jan
06

If anything we learned anything in that year that shall remain nameless, it’s fair to say we learned A LOT, and perhaps, are still processing those lessons. One big take-away as an organization we have is the gratitude for those teachers, former board members, and volunteers who helped us get here. Where is here you may ask? To our 100th year!!! It’s time to celebrate (big time!) our past, present and keep building a strong future. So guess what? We are going to do just that. 

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20/20 Vision

by: Jessica Peconi-Cook
Category: Organizational update
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Jul
29

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? 

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2020 PSAHPERD Awards Update

by: Colleen Wegimont
Category: Organizational update
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Jul
02

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.

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Why Blog? Why Not?

by: Todd Bedard
Category: Technology
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Jul
05

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.

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