I am exceedingly thankful for the men and women who have invested in me in order to bring me to where I am today. In this post I am excited to highlight some of the people who inspired me along my journey to becoming a PE teacher. They each provided me with a key component of my education in physical education, if you will.

2008-2010 PE class with Janice Hicks

As a high school student at Tantramar Regional High School, I loved PE class. It was safe to say that my favorite class was PE. As an athlete I was built on competition, team building, and personal challenge. In my eleventh and twelfth grade Mrs. Janice Hicks was my PE teacher. I took two classes with Mrs. Hicks during these two school years and they were both enjoyable.

It wasn’t simply a matter of me, the athlete being skilled and having success. Rather Janice challenged my pre-conceived notions of what PE class was. She impressed upon me the importance of theory, volunteering, and nutrition.

Thank you, Mrs. Hicks for your investment.

2010 Internship with Mark Eagles

In the winter of 2010 I enrolled in a cooperative education program. Since I had a desire to become a PE teacher I reached out to my renowned Marshview Middle School PE teacher, Mr. Mark Eagles.

Mr. Eagles was the first inspiration that I had in my journey to become a PE teacher. He was gracious enough to have me intern in his class multiple days each week. He showed me how to be a PE teacher who focuses on truly educating students while helping them to have as much fun as possible. I enjoyed the time teaching with him nearly as much as I enjoyed our long discussions after school in his office. He would wax poetic about doing work with diligence, the need to enjoy your work, and the challenges of being a PE teacher.

Thank you, Mr. Eagles for your investment.

2010-2014 Internship with Curry Smith

In the fall of 2010 I moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick to begin a Bachelor of Recreation & Sports Studies. After being prompted by my mother to find a PE teacher Fredericton to learn from, I trekked up the UNB campus hill to Montgomery Street School and met Mr. Curry Smith.

Mr. Smith was a phenomenal elementary PE teacher who was overjoyed to have me jump into his PE class to observe and interact with students. Once every two weeks for the better part of my four year Bachelor degree I jumped into Mr. Smith’s class. He taught me about elementary PE methods, foundational movement skills, the importance of play, and how to be patient in the midst of a constantly changing PE landscape both inside and outside of the school.

Thank you, Mr. Smith for your investment.

The picture above was of me in the summer of 2011. During my time at UNB and with Mr. Smith.

Learning comes in many forms, personal reflection, in a classroom, in a workplace, through conversation. All of the investments made in my by the educators highlighted above were impactful because they involved new learning about physical education as a subject. They all involved a key component which is sometimes overshadowed in education, hands on learning. I was able to personally experience PE in a different way from Mrs. Hicks and be hands on in Mr. Eagles’ & Mr. Smith’s classrooms. Each of these experiences were valuable and memorable and I am grateful to have had this education in physical education.

The rest of this topic will be continued in part 2…

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. It was a pleasure spending time with you today.

Peace & Blessings,

– Josiah