Keynote Speaker Leslie Hicks
Strength can be defined as a good or beneficial quality or attribute of a person, organization or thing, and strength was definitely on full display at our 2016 HAHPERD Spring PE & Health Workshop this year.
As a way to experiment with possibly holding a future state conference on a weekday, this year's workshop was held on Monday, February 8 at Punahou School. In a demonstration of their strength, our professionals came out in force, from public and private schools big and small, and even from the outer islands. Those that attended were definitely treated to a thoughtfully organized day that left them both refreshed and ready to take on the challenges facing our profession.
The day started off with the keynote from Leslie Hicks (SHAPE America Physical Activity Council Academic Coach) from Arizona. She spoke of different ways we can advocate for our profession, including joining our professional organizations both locally and nationally, signing up for the SHAPE America #50MillionStrong Count Me In! campaign, and registering in the Let's Move! Active Schools program to take the evaluation and begin the activate and celebrate process.
She also announced that an exciting bill was just recently passed by the US Congress and signed by President Obama in December called the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As was explained by HAHPERD board member Angie Miyashiro in last month's newsletter, the bill effectively replaces the term "core subjects" in No- Child-Left-Behind with "well-rounded education" and will now include subjects like health and PE. This opens the door for PE and health to possibly receive federal fundings that were previously only designated for those few subjects labeled as core. While all the fine details of ESSA are still to be ironed out, this bill reflects the hard work and efforts behind the scenes at the national level and further emphasizes the need for all of us to do our part as professionals to continue to flex our collective muscle and continually strive to prove our worth with our students, parents, administrators, and policy makers.
Click here for keynote presentation Powerpoint
Hawaii (2).pptx
SHAPE America #50MillionStrong Count Me In! Campaign
http://www.shapeamerica.org/prodev/50million.cfm
Appropriate Instructional Practice Guidelines
http://www.shapeamerica.org/standards/guidelines/upload/Appropriate-Instructional-Practices-Grid.pdf
Physical Education Program Checklist
http://www.shapeamerica.org/standards/guidelines/upload/Physical-Education-Program-Checklist.pdf
Break Out Sessions
Break-out sessions this year included presentations by Leslie Hicks on the importance of Brain Breaks and Classroom Energizers, Dr. Dwight Lin on ACL and other sports injury prevention, Guillermo Ruiz from the American Heart Association on the Jump Rope/Hoops for Heart programs, Mick Wong from the Hawaii Bicycling League on their Bike Ed program, and Doug Kiang on wearable technology. Pictured above: (left) Dr. Dwight Lin and (right) attendees listen to Leslie Hicks' Brain Breaks presentation.
Click here to download Leslie Hicks' Brain Breaks and Classroom Energizers handout:
Handout Brain Breaks.pdf
Discussion Panel on Advocating for
Quality PE & Health
This year's workshop featured a unique opportunity for attendees to hear Mr. Frank Fernandez, principal at Kaimuki Middle School (pictured left), and Mr. Rob Hesia, the Hawaii DOE HPE Ed Specialist (pictured right), speak on advocating for quality PE and health. It was discussed that PE and health teachers need to be an integral part of the school culture. Being a part of that positive school culture is all about commitment and when PE and health are valued by the entire community, they become part of the value system that can drive a school's decision making. It was also shared that effective teachers and leaders need to communicate and establish their values first. Those values lead to a common vision by the school community which in turn guides the practices of the school. The greatest challenge however is in constantly making sure the daily practice supports and reinforces the vision. It is only when the values, vision and practice are in line that we see the positive outcomes for our students and entire school community.
Special thanks go out to Shelley Fey, Yvette Ikari, Bobbie Perry and the entire workshop planning committee and volunteers for all your hard work, creativity, planning, and organization of the day. It truly was a special event!
