Tag Archives: Physical Education Teachers

CA PE teacher and baseball coach Tim Steele was once drafted by the Kansas City Royals

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California’s Tim Steele was once drafted by the Kansas City Royals. Instead, he chose to pursue a career as a physical education teacher and baseball coach. Photo Credit: Legacy.com

Often, individuals with superior athletic ability go on to become excellent athletic coaches. This is certainly true of James Timothy Steele—known to all as Tim—a baseball player who taught physical education teacher and coached baseball for many years.

Tim was born in Compton, California, on Jan. 20, 1950, and raised in the nearby city of Downey. As a youngster, he played baseball, standing out as a left-handed first baseman.

After his high school graduation, Tim was drafted by the Kansas City Royals, but chose instead to pursue his education by enrolling at Cerritos Junior College. There he led the school’s team to two championships, and was named the All-Conference Most Valuable Player. After two years at Cerritos, Tim was offered a full-ride athletic scholarship to attend the University of California (USC). While playing for the USC Trojans, he scored a 347 batting average, which put him in tenth place in Trojan history. Twice he was named an All-Conference honoree, and twice he was named a member of the All-College World Series Team, in 1971 and 1972.

Tim also represented the United States in the Pan American Games, earning a silver medal. This accomplishment earned him a meeting with then-President Richard Nixon. Tim went on to play four seasons in the minor leagues for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 1979, Tim joined the staff at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, California. There he worked as a physical education teacher and coached baseball and football. Later, he joined the coaching staff at the University of Redlands in Redlands, and he also completed a stint as a baseball coach at San Bernardino Valley College. By the time Tim retired as an educator and coach in 2011, his career working with young people had spanned 30 years.

Sadly, Tim passed away on Dec. 17, 2022, following a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. To read more about Tim Steele, see this obituary published by Legacy.com.

CA teacher Alyssa Worbetz honored by College Football Playoff National Championship program

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Meet Alyssa Worbetz, a science teacher and the Director of Movement at Girls Athletic Leadership School (GALS) in Panorama City, a suburb of Los Angeles in Southern California. She has been selected as one of 46 educators to be honored this year by the Champions Education Here program sponsored by the College Football Playoff National Championship.

At GALS, Alyssa champions access and exposure to sports for her school’s entire all-female student body. “I’ve seen sports really improve the outcomes in the classroom,” asserts Alyssa. In addition, the honored educator says that regular participation in daily movement reduces depression and anxiety. For this reason, every school day begins with “morning movement,” a workout for the staff and the students. Additionally, movement in incorporated into class curriculum as much as possible throughout the day.

Prior to teaching at GALS LA, Alyssa spent seven years teaching high school science in Los Angeles schools. She also logged over ten years of experience coaching field hockey and softball on a variety of high school teams, national programs, clinics, and camps for players between the ages of 8 and18.

Alyssa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology with an emphasis in Cellular and Molecular Biology from New Jersey’s Farleigh-Dickinson University, Florham, in 2009. She earned her Masters degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Special Education from Farleigh-Dickinson University, Florham, in 2010. She earned a second Masters degree in Biology, cum laude, from South Carolina’s Clemson University in 2016.

The Champions Educate Here program annually identifies and celebrates educators, including physical education teachers, elementary, teachers, special education teachers, coaches, and after-school staff, who nurture the academic, mental health, and social-emotional needs of students through sport, play, and movement. Each selected educator will receive up to $20,000 to expand their efforts at their school. To learn more about the Champions Education Here program sponsored by the College Football Playoff National Championship, click on this link: LosAngeles2023.com/Legacy.

PE teacher Lisa Cohen of NYC garners 2022 Big Apple award

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Physical education teacher Lisa Cohen from Queens, New York, has garnered a 2022 Big Apple award. Photo credit: NYC Department of Education

I always enjoy sharing stories about exceptional teachers who have earned recognition for their work in the educational community. One of these is Lisa Cohen, a physical education teacher from New York who has garnered a 2022 Big Apple Award.

Lisa teaches pre-K through fifth grade students at PS 91 in the Borough of Queens in New York City. She says her goal is to create supportive environments that meet her students’ specific needs. To this end, she adapts and adjusts her instruction to challenge her students so they can move forward at a comfortable pace. She provides instruction in multiple ways, making use of technology, visuals, support staff members, and even her own students to help demonstrate skills and concepts. She has created routines that are high energy, fun, and contribute to creating a great learning environment.

Not only does Lisa work for the benefit of her young students, but she also engages the entire school community in physical education activities through field days and other physical activity opportunities. For example, when schools were closed down at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lisa offered morning fitness opportunities virtually for students, staff members, and parents. Because of her efforts, the PS 91 community was provided with positive lifelong practices that helped all of them remain healthy and active during the shut-downs.

In addition to teaching physical education, Lisa leads the fourth grade inquiry team, and has developed school-wide professional learning opportunities for her fellow educators.

Lisa was one of five educators from Queens and 20 teachers from throughout New York City who received a Big Apple Award in 2022. This is the tenth year that the awards have been distributed in a citywide recognition program to celebrate New York City’s public school teachers. The recipients were nominated by district leaders and principals. Mayor Eric Adams congratulated the honored educators  for their dedication and commitment to changing the lives of New York City students. “Being a teacher isn’t always easy, but you all have shown up as selfless and caring individuals who devote themselves to the well-being and progress of our students. Thank you!” Adams said.

 

MO PE and Health teacher Jean Kuczka slain in school shooting

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PE and Health teacher Jean Kuczka was slain in a school gun violence incident in St. Louis, Missouri, on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022. Photo Credit: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Once again, the educational community mourns the loss of another teacher to school gun violence. Physical education teacher Jean Kuczka, age 61, was fatally wounded in an attack at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School located in St. Louis, Missouri. She had been a teacher on the campus since 2008.

As a young woman, Jean attended Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, on a field hockey scholarship. There she studied physical education and played on the school’s field hockey team. In fact, she was a member of the university’s 1979 national championship team.

Jean’s college  coach, Rhonda Ridinger, declared the fallen educator is a hero. Ridinger, who coached Jean at Missouri State from 1979 to 1982, says Jean loved her team like her family, just like the students she put first on Monday. “I think she did what a loving, seasoned teacher would do, protect the kids,” remarked Ridinger. Jean’s daughter, Abigail Kuczka, agrees. “My mom loved kids,” Abigail asserts. “I know her students looked at her like she was their mom,” Abigail continued, adding that her mother was killed while protecting her students.

After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Education, Jean began teaching physical education at Seven Holy Founders in Affton, Missouri. For the next 16 years, Jean developed a physical education program for the K-8 students. When she decided she wanted to concentrate on junior high school students, Jean transferred to Carr Lane Middle School in St. Louis in 2002. At first, she taught physical education, but later she decided she wanted to teach courses in health education, so she developed a health ed program for the middle school. Once health became a state-required course at the high school level, Jean transferred to Central Visual & Performing Arts High School, where she has taught Health, Personal Finance, and Physical Education since 2008.
Jean Kuczka was the mother of five and the grandmother of six.

Ellen Tronnier, Wisconsin PE teacher, once played in All-American Girls Baseball League

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Wisconsin physical education teacher Ellen Tronnier played as an outfielder in the All-American girls Professional Baseball League during World War II. Photo Credit: AAGPBL

Many excellent teachers have also earned fame as talented athletes. One of these was Ellen Tronnier, a Wisconsin physical education teacher who once played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II. Those who are familiar with the 1992 movie A League of their Own starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna know very well about this unique group of women athletes.

Ellen, who was an outfielder, was 5’6″, 135 pounds. She batted and threw right-handed. After making it through two grueling try-outs, she earned a position in the league playing on a team called the South Bend Blue Sox. Having been born in Cudahy, Wisconsin, on June 28, 1927, she was only 15 years old at the time.

After only one season on the team, Ellen decided to pursue her education. She left the league and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. After she completed her degree there, she taught physical education in the Milwaukee Public School District. She taught at both South Division High School and Sholes Middle School. Her career as a teacher spanned a total of 33 years. During these years, which included the 1970s, Ellen opened a baseball school for girls sponsored by the Milwaukee Recreation Department.

While she was still teaching, Ellen, played club softball for 27 years, competing in numerous tournaments. She was an accomplished fast pitch softball player, and the teams she played on won several league, state, and regional championships. In 1956, her club won three National Invitational Tournaments.

When the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Cooperstown, New York, an entire section of exhibits was dedicated to the All-Girls League. Ellen was recognized as one of the 560 women who had, at one time or another, played in the league. In 1990, Ellen was inducted into the Wisconsin Softball Association Hall of Fame. Even throughout her retirement, the former teacher remained active, encouraging young women to engage in competitive sports while she signed baseball cards and reminisced about the days when she payed baseball.

Sadly, Ellen Tronnier passed away on May 21, 2015, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was 87 years old. She was interred at Arlington Park Cemetery in Greenfield, Wisconsin.