eDragon News reporter Lisa O'Donoghue recently sat down with Theresa Tower, Pennekamp's physical education teacher.  We are thrilled to have Theresa back at Pennekamp full time this year.

You may not have met her yet, but all the Pennekamp kids know her.  She is the reason you say bunches of kids hanging out at the edge of the playground in the mornings.  Theresa Tower has been teaching Physical Education for 17 years, the first 7 in Michigan and 10 here in MB.  Originally from Michigan, she fell in love with beach volleyball and the beach lifestyle while visiting family in San Diego.  Luckily for us, she decided to stay.

Theresa has experienced plenty of change in her 10 years here in MBUSD.  Four years ago there were 7 full-time PE teachers in the district, with 6 full-time assistants, working 250 minutes per week.  Cuts in the state budget dropped those numbers down to 2.5 teachers to cover the entire district, and no assistants.

Meanwhile, the state continued to mandate that elementary school students receive 200 minutes of PE instruction every ten days.  The 2.5 teachers left had to split their time between the 5 elementary schools, teaching 100 minutes each week.  The other 100 minutes of PE instruction fell to the classroom teachers, cutting in to valuable prep time.

The funds generously provided by MBEF this year have brought the PE teachers back to full-time positions, no doubt happy news for the PE teachers AND the classroom teachers alike.

I asked Theresa why she thinks PE is so important:  “There are so many reasons why it’s important.  Children need organized and non-organized play.  These days many families have smaller backyards, worry about their kids biking around in their neighborhoods like I did growing up.  Kids also have busier, more structured schedules.  They need exercise but they need it to be fun, too.” 

To that end, her program is not designed around traditional sports.  Her aim is to empower the students with movement, giving them control at their own pace.   The key focus of the program is on getting along with everyone, regardless of skill level.  The games they play are designed so that those students with higher level sport skills and those that are less skilled can all participate equally, building both self-confidence and muscle strength and coordination.

Almost every Friday, known as “Freaky Friday”, the kids can choose to play with any and every piece of equipment used that week.  It’s fun for them, and Theresa uses that time to observe her student’s progress.

Theresa puts out a monthly newsletter called The Whistler, as she has for the past 17 years, which is chock full of ideas - for families to get physically active together, or to fulfill a goal pertaining to the theme of the month.  September’s theme was “Working Together”; October’s focus will be on “Speed”.

This is the first year that Theresa has allowed students to be her assistants.  The volunteers take turns every month or so setting up equipment in the morning and breaking it down in the afternoon.  The students helping get a little bracelet, and the satisfaction of knowing they are being helpful and that they are needed.

When Theresa is not busy getting our kids up on their feet and running, she spends as much outdoor fun time as she can with her husband and 9 year old son, surfing, hiking and biking.

Two years ago Theresa was moved to MBMS as their full-time PE teacher.  While she always enjoys her job, she really missed the elementary school kids. “I am so happy to be back at PK.  I love it here!  I love it when the kids will run down to see me.  Their hugs and high-fives make my day.  Even the ones who drag their feet coming down, when I  see them smile for one or two minutes when they get into it, makes it all worthwhile.”