PFA All-Star Teacher Showcase
Pam Stroupe - 2010 PFA All-Star Teacher of the Year
From the minute Pam’s kids step off the school bus they start asking “What are we going to do in PE today?” The kids cannot wait to get to her class! From day one the In-Service Trainer said Pam was going to be the PFA nucleolus and to look for her school to stand out. It did not take long for this prediction to realize itself. Her testing data shows student improvement in every skill set and some even reaching Gold and KONG Levels!
She has parents who call her a “Fitness Guru” as she has taken the students from “not very energetic in their physical education activities,” to “helping the children get more dynamically involved in staying fit.” This all came about because of her attitude, passion, positive environment, positive reinforcement and her dedication to providing knowledge, skill and opportunity for each kid. Her principal writes to us “Her dedication to Project Fit America has caused a new movement at our school.” We believe Pam is an outstanding example that kids can become fit and that they truly hunger for a real physical education. Fitness is addictive. Fitness does not lie, and her kids are the proof that it you build it, they will come. Pam Stroupe's Teaching Philosophy
I have been teaching physical education for the past ten years. Presently I teach at an elementary school that consists of grades kindergarten through eighth grade, and I coach slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball, and track. I have always been a very active person and I try to instill that quality into my children. Now, at the age of forty-one, I still enjoy playing softball with my church league and leading an active lifestyle.
When I began my teaching experience at Hills Chapel five years ago the students there were not very energetic in their physical education activities. After being here for one year, I began looking for grants to provide the funds and activities I needed to improve my physical education program. Receiving the Project Fit America grant has helped me enhance our school’s program and has helped the children get more dynamically involved, in staying fit.
Certainly, all children deserve a quality education in all aspects of school; and especially with the amount of obesity in Mississippi being so high, I believe school-aged children need to be exposed to physical activity at school. I feel that through a quality physical education program, students will learn to appreciate being active, and continue to see the benefits of lifelong physical activity. Therefore, I strive to expose my students to a variety of activities on a daily basis, and the Project Fit America program has enabled me to do so.
In addition, having a positive environment is one of the most important aspects of physical education. Because I want my students to enjoy my class, I strive to find new activities that they like to participate in. This is important to me because I want them to participate in physical activity outside of the gym, and they will only do that if they enjoy the experiences they are exposed to. A part of my goal in helping students stay physically fit is for them not just to be active, but to feel good in the process.
Positive reinforcement plays a big part in getting the desired results I want as a physical education teacher. Acknowledging students’ achievements, no matter how big or small, gives them a feeling of pride in themselves. The P.F.A. program provides a unique opportunity to contribute to the overall development and well-being of every student while teaching them to care for their physical health.
In my P.F.A. program, I am committed to providing knowledge, skill, and opportunity in a supportive and inclusive environment to allow each student to discover the value of movement, cooperation, teamwork, healthy competition, wellness, and responsibility to self and others. It is critically important to me that every student, regardless of his or her athletic or physical ability, receives the opportunity to participate and succeed in physical education every day.
Because of P.F.A., the P.E. program at Hills Chapel School is no longer a simple supervised playtime. It is now a program that the students cannot wait to perform in. Each morning when the students file into our building, I am asked numerous times what the activities of the day are going to be. This excitement, I believe, comes from the motivation I provide. For example, one way I motivate the students is by having them set goals for awards. For further motivation, each year if a student receives six or more gold rewards, I take him on a field trip. Last year winners went skating for the afternoon. This year we are set to go to our local Kids Town. The students work very hard to achieve this goal.
Also, a new activities incentive that I am offering this semester is to award the room, that, at the end of the year has the most blue ribbons at field day. Each student who wins an individual ribbon, as well as a class competition that receives a ribbon, will be displayed in the classroom. I will count the ribbons in May, take photos for the local newspaper and yearly annual, and provide the winning class with its field day. Because my students love to have their photos displayed, this is yet another form of motivation. Many of my parents have expressed to me their gratitude for helping make their children feel important. It is only through the assistance of the P.F.A. providing the cards and ribbons that I am able to do this. We at Hills Chapel also have a big field day for all students and adults at the end of the year. Lots of fun games and activities are played. The local PTO helps me with this day. We provide nutritional snacks and water for everyone during the day-long activities.
It is especially important to note that my peers at Hills Chapel are very supportive in helping me be good role models for a healthy lifestyle. Together we encourage students to drink plenty of water and exercise daily. In addition, we have a weight room with a treadmill that the other faculty members and I use regularly. It is very important for students to see that adults try to live healthy lifestyles also. A few of the teachers meet daily and use the Pacer Pride disk, along with the weighted hoops which, I believe, further encourages our students.
My plan is to continue to work diligently for the P.F.A. program to be a continued success. I have had to overcome several obstacles to reach my goals in Project Fit. One set of parents has even called me the “Fitness Guru.” I have all my students participate in P.F.A. activities, but I stress to them to push themselves only as far as they can go, pointing out to them that some kids can push themselves further than others. I try to help them understand that each of us is unique in our own way and should do only as much as our bodies can tolerate.
Activities
The students at Hills Chapel love the Shuttle Cup Run, Food Challenge, and most of all Battleball. I cannot imagine my program without these activities and many others that we use on a daily basis.
The following is a new activity I have incorporated into our P.F.A. program this year. This activity was created by a few of my sixth grade students and myself. We got together a few days after school and developed this activity. My students are really enjoying it.
P.F.A. Hidden Treasure
Materials:
6 cones
5 jump ropes
5 bouncy balls
Treasure clue cards
P.F.A. cups
Students get into 5 groups of 5. When the music starts the students must jump rope 10 times, run to bouncy balls and bounce themselves to the free throw line and back to half court. Then they must crab crawl to the free throw line where the clue cards are placed under a cone. Students must read the clue and figure out where the P.F.A. cups are hidden.
When they find the hidden spot, they are allowed to get 5 cups at a time, and take the cups to an area and begin to build their pyramid. The group with the tallest pyramid after a 15-minute run wins the game. This group will receive ribbons to put in their class count.